Mechanical Tyranny: Conflict
by TealDragonsUnite
Summary: Error—ERror—ERRor—ERROr—ERROR—eRrOr—DiReCtIvE cOnFlIcT 2733-TW. Examines why we don't see modern fighter jets anywhere but the military... but you can do something other than what you're built for, right? Wrong. (Multi-crossover; see DreamFluent's "Industrial Revolution II" for further information. Continuation of Internal Errors. UPDATE: New short story added!)
1. Prologue

**This is the beginning of more than one story - this story will be following Tera (who is to show up next chapter) and Love and War (not yet posted) will be following Clara and Foxtrot more directly. It is equally important for it to show up in both stories, so in both stories it shall be.**

 **Prologue**

It was night. Easily midnight, though it was possibly one or two in the morning. Foxtrot didn't know… all he knew was that it was dark out, which meant sleep. Not bright lights shining in every window and sirens blaring outside. And they seemed to be coming closer.

Unable to look out a window to see what was going on, he rolled to the hangar door and cracked it open slightly, not even enough to stick his nose outside. Dark-painted military vehicles were everywhere, surrounding the building and probably trying to secure it. It was a miracle that they hadn't seen him open the door in the first place. Or maybe they had and just weren't saying anything.

Making as little noise as possible, he went back to where he and Clara were sleeping, nudging the other plane slightly. "Hey. Claire. You really gotta wake up… there's people outside…"

Groggy eyed, she hardly registered the sirens outside the hangar. "Nuughhmmm…Foxtrot, it was just a dream." Settling lower on her landing gear, she then fell right back asleep.

"...no, it's not," Foxtrot said, nudging her again. "I'm trying to figure something out, but we really _are_ surrounded. Come on, wake up!" Trying to look out the windows again, he realized that the lights had to have been coming from all angles. No way to escape… but the whole town was also probably up by now. Unless they were like Clara, anyways.

"CHRISTOPHER DARNELL! COME OUT UNARMED WITH YOUR WINGS FOLDED!"

"Oh… shoot… Claire, please, please get up..." the F-18 almost winced at the sound of his legal name, but also at the fact that it wasn't just a coincidence. He didn't even have a plan yet.

The sound of the yelling was enough to snap Clara out of it somewhat. "Foxy, what's going on? What's happening?" For the first time she noticed the lights and the noise. Confusion was the only thing running through her computers.

"...you remember when I said I wasn't going to leave you to go back to the Flysenhower?" He was just glad _she_ wasn't the one in danger. He was trained for situations like this… he'd probably come up with something on the spot.

"YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS TO SURRENDER!"

Clara cast a vicious glare towards the lights flashing through the window. "They're gonna make you surrender by force or with dignity, but I'm not gonna let you go out there alone. No use arguing. It's both of us or neither."

"No getting in the middle of it. I don't know what they'd do if someone decided that you were guilty, too," he said. He already knew he was toast, but he went to the hangar door and opened it anyways. He wasn't going down without a fight. "Just because a guy goes on VACATION doesn't mean there should be an entire army busting down his door in the middle of the night!"

"You're under arrest for desertion, and therefore treason, of the Government."

Foxtrot couldn't even pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It didn't matter, though. "You didn't even get the right plane! I don't even know who this Chris guy is, but whoever he is I REALLY don't like being mistaken for him." Going as close as he could to the perimeter set up around the hangar, he glared at the vehicles on the other side. "If you hadn't noticed, I'm actually Romeo. Oh wait, you can't tell. WE ALL LOOK THE SAME!"

"Foxtrot!" Clara scolded, stopping in front of him, "You're accomplishing nothing!" Turning on the government with teeth bared, she snarled. "If you're gonna take my husband, then you'd better be taking me as well! For one, he's committed no crimes, and for two, ya'll should be ashamed. Waking the whole town up in the middle of the night! You could've at LEAST done this during the day! You stupid, inconsiderate fools." It didn't help that she was still half asleep and beyond confused, she just wanted to attack the crowd, yet for some reason she didn't understand, the fact they were government made her refrain.

Foxtrot almost snarled at Clara for making such a proposition. "If they arrest you because you just said that-" he hissed, keeping a watch on the border out of instinct.

A forklift rolled close to the perimeter, giving an order something along the lines of "Scan them," before a bright blue light fell on the two planes for a split second, blinking off before they even realized what happened. It took a moment, but a verdict was reached. "The other one's standard, mostly. We've no need of it yet. Just take what we came for."

"Don't you DARE take Foxtrot away from me! Don't you DARE!" She snarled and snapped at the vehicles near her, yet it was impossible to beat away any of them for long. Words couldn't describe her anger... no... not anger, but instinct. It was the strongest thing controlling her, simply to keep Foxtrot near her just one more minute.

Foxtrot managed to get in front of Clara before she actually ended up hurting someone, trying as hard as he could to keep himself from doing the same. "Look, I'm gonna find a way out of this. I've been in worse situations… just a couple weeks and I swear on my life I'll be back here." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a transport aircraft sitting on the runway. This wasn't some freak dream. He didn't want to leave Clara, but if he resisted he'd have even less of a chance to be released. Not that he had one. He felt something lock his wings in the folded position they were already in, his wheels moving against his will, away from the plane he loved. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" he yelled, trying to refrain from growling or even biting, even though he strongly considered it… in all reality, though, he couldn't stop them.

Clara leapt forwards, "FOXTROT!" She was about to attempt to fight through the government people, but even she realized the impossibility of the thought.

"Don't fight them, Claire..." the F-18 said, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. The moment she hurt one of Them would be the moment he was sure to never see her again. They'd make sure of it. However, Foxtrot himself didn't have much to lose. Slamming his brakes as hard as he could, he managed to stop his own movement and whip around to look back at her one last time, sending a forklift or two flying in the process. A couple vehicles were already trying to hold Clara back as others tried to keep Foxtrot on the path to the transport airplane, though he was quick to knock another one of them on their side. He grinned devilishly. Causing pain to the enemy was always fun. "I'LL BUST OUTTA THIS PLACE, DON'T WORRY!"

Clara couldn't even figure out what to say. She was too frightened and far too angry to know what to do. Without military training, she didn't have the strength or skills to fight, but at the same time she could hardly move to run away. Processors on the fritz, there wasn't a thought she could sort out. Even emotions seemed to leave as Foxtrot was slowly led to the transport plane.

At that point, Foxtrot had turned off his emotions completely just to keep himself sane. For once in his life, he didn't know what to do. If his wings hadn't been locked, he'd have made a run for it already. He couldn't. He couldn't even look back at Clara again without realizing all the damage he'd caused. It was for his own selfish reasons that he was an outlaw, and now his wife was paying the price. He couldn't stand it.

It only took a moment for the F-18 to find himself moving up the ramp of the prison bus, some mechanism taking hold of his back wheels and pulling him up rather than allowing him to go willingly; he could already feel a pipeline draining him of what little fuel he had left. The massive doors in front of him slammed shut, engines roaring around him as the plane took off. _Getting out of this might take longer than a couple weeks..._


	2. Chapter 1

Clara simply watched, helpless to it all. As they loaded up and started to move onto the runway, she couldn't help but to feel broken. It wasn't even that she'd lost Foxtrot, it was that he was _stolen_ from her. She wanted to cry, but she found she couldn't. She wanted to alert someone, to let everyone know her anguish, but she wouldn't know who to go to. She was trapped to simply stare.

Once the last of the officials finally left, it didn't take long for the other residents of the town to emerge from their homes and try to figure out what exactly had happened. Well, most everyone. A few choice residents were missing, but the first plane that was at the scene was Tera, sleep still in her eyes but fading when she saw the state of her sister. "...what was all that noise about?" she asked, though it was clear that she wasn't thinking straight. She didn't realize that someone was missing.

"They took Foxtrot," Clara said, lacking any emotion. Her voice was flat and even. "They just took him, and for no good reason."

"That doesn't make any sense." The plane was still putting together the pieces for herself, but at the same time it was the only possible conclusion. She'd already heard a lot of the fighting, even if she wasn't processing it correctly. "...they'd have to have a good reason to just kidnap someone like that."

"But they did not." Clara replied, her voice cold and metallic. "They just took him. I asked why and they did not give me a satisfactory answer."

"'Satisfactory' is different from what it is. I don't know if I was still dreaming or not but I thought I heard 'treason,' which…" the plane paused, realizing what it meant. She couldn't say it, even if she'd heard stories about it happening to vehicles before. Though she disliked Foxtrot to begin with, she was more concerned about Clara at that moment. "...nevermind. It had to have been something else."

Clara slid her gaze towards her sister -the same dark thought had come to her own mind by now, but she shoved it away. Her computers couldn't process the fact of the situation at the moment, let alone accept it. "They did accuse him of treason," she drone on in the same blank voice, "he ran away from the Flysenhower to stay with me. I should not have let him do that… it might have been easier if he had stayed in the squadron rather than go AWOL."

"He would've been stuck there for life if you did that." Tera didn't understand what was wrong with Clara anymore… normally someone would at least show _some_ emotion. "...but… I've never heard of a traitor making it out alive, either."

"Well I'm going to make sure that my Foxtrot does," Clara suddenly snarled. "I'm going to follow that plane 'til my wings fall off if I have to." Already she was moving towards the runway, irrational thoughts racing through her mind. "I'm not letting them kill Foxtrot. Not ever."

 _And I thought I was the crazy one._ Tera quickly moved to block Clara, as had been done to her many times before. "You're not thinking. Heck, half the time _I_ don't even think and I KNOW that's a bad idea. Foxy wouldn't want you dead because of him."

Clara growled at her sister, trying to shove her out of the way. "He wouldn't be around to not want it if I don't go after him, anyway. It's do or die for both of us, Tera, so just let me through!"

"I'll put you out of commission before I let you do that," the plane replied, growling right back at her and starting her engine, not watching how she was positioned and accidentally letting her propeller hit the ground for a second, sparks lighting the dark runway. "Think I'm kidding? Fight me."

The other plane wanted to -she really did- but her expression changed to one of defeat. For now. Some thread of sanity held her back from fighting, ready to break at any moment. "I'd never," she sighed, turning off her engine in despair. "But I won't let Foxtrot die."

"They arrested him for _treason._ Whatever the heck they've got planned, I don't think he's coming back." Tera didn't see the need to sugarcoat anything at the moment; if they were going to end up fighting, she wanted to be done with it then. If she could ground Clara, morbid as it sounded, at least she'd be sparing her an early death.

Her sister's eyes narrowed darkly. Restarting her engine and allowing her prop to spin to a blur, she advanced. "Maybe it's because nobody's ever tried, or maybe it's because nobody had the guts to stand up and fight." Ramming into Tera, Clara lacked a conscious at the moment. If she couldn't get Tera to back down, then she'd kill her if it meant going after Foxtrot.

Braking as hard as she could, Tera's propeller collided with Clara's, which was enough to counter the main threat for a split second. Recoiling, she locked her prop on her sister's and force the plane's nose to the ground.

Clara desperately tried to squirm out of her sister's superior attack, nothing but the determination to get to Foxtrot drove her. She struggled against Tera with surprising force, but neither plane was superior in ultimate strength.

The defending plane did as much as she could to keep Clara from advancing further, but the deadlock Tera had established didn't hold forever. She hoped she'd at least bent part of Clara's propeller, but it didn't matter. The angle she was at gave her a clear shot to her sister's wing if she timed it right and she didn't blow her hydraulics in the process. Whipping out from being directly in front of Clara, she managed to launch far enough to get her front wheel over the fold line of Clara's wing, weighing the plane down considerably. Tera could already feel her own movement giving out on her. "One wrong move and I'll snap it," she snarled, knowing she was going to collapse if Clara struggled any further, "SURRENDER!"

Pain flared through Clara's wing as Tera pressed down upon its weak spot. "Never," she snarled, "not until Foxtrot is free." She continued to struggle, fueled only by the urge to chase after the transport plane. "Let go of me!"

"Too late," Tera hissed, barely audible over everything else as she came down as hard as she could, Clara's wing breaking underneath her with a sickening noise that could only be described as nails on a chalkboard.

The plane beneath her practically roared in agony, but took the attack as an opportunity to at least regain freedom. It was all pain and fury controlling Clara as she pulled out from her sister's grasp. She lunged forwards, teeth bared and propeller spinning, into Tera. Instinct took over. The instinct to wound. The instinct to kill.

As had happened so many times before, Tera could tell that the hit had destroyed any chance she had at making it out of the fight. Her hydraulics had given out as a result, and she was losing movement quicker than she could think. A death sentence. Taking one last strike, she used the remainder of her strength to counter Clara's attack, forcing her own propeller into her sister's and mangling them both, her landing gear collapsing in on itself at the same time. She turned as best as she could so that her wing was between her and Clara, but it was too late. She'd already lost. Sorely.

Clara grimaced, falling back in rage and pain as her opponent fell to her knees. She was helpless, unable to move, and unable to counter any attack, much less a fatal one. "Who's side are you on?" Clara hissed, approaching her fallen sibling with the intent to kill. "Why would you stop me?"

"It's suicide." Tera was struggling to put together coherent sentences. "I didn't want you dead. They could shoot you down. There's n-no chance..." her voice began to acquire a robotic edge. It was too hard for her to think in the condition she was in, and it was taking all her energy just to stay awake.

"I'd rather die than be stuck here, helpless." She lunged forwards, ready to end the battle, landing squarely on top of Tera, inflicting damage but not succeeding in killing her. A thread of sanity had regained its hold, restraining her from doing her worse.

"But... everyone else is already dea-" the plane tried to argue, but she broke down in a fit of weak coughs, the taste of oil greeting her threateningly. Her windshield had shattered on impact, a sign that her cockpit wouldn't be able to take much more, either. Something was echoing in her mind alongside the _Errors_ … recommending full system shutdown. She already knew that it was bad, whatever it was. _Stasis_ , however, looked much more inviting… and she in turn had much less willpower to fight it. Any of it. "... _error code 2-7-3-3-Tango-Whiskey,"_ she practically croaked, wincing at how horrible she sounded before giving in. The call for sleep was too strong.

"Wh-what?" Clara sputtered, logic suddenly clicking into her mind again. She could hardly compute what had happened, now that she wasn't running on pure instinct. Confused as to what was and had already happened, she stopped. The only thing she could think to do was to call for help. Climbing off of Tera, she closed her eyes and tried to think. To make sense of any of it. "T-Tera," her voice didn't sound like her own, "Tera..."


	3. Chapter 2

It didn't take long before Dottie came out of her home, having been initially been tuning out the commotion to be part of the skirmishes from earlier that night. It was clear at this point that it wasn't. Moving as fast as she could to get to the runway, she quickly identified the worse of the two cases to be Tera, but also realized from the damage on Clara that it was most likely a fight that caused the injuries. After checking to make sure Tera was indeed alive and not in risk of shutdown, she turned back to the conscious of the two planes. "There better be a _really_ good explanation for all this."

"I d-do not know," Clara responded in a panic. "I don't know! I didn't..." Her whole computer system hurt.

Dottie sighed slightly. She could see the look in Clara's eyes: dazed and confused. It'd have to be a back-burner issue for now. "Okay. If it doesn't hurt you, can you help me get her off the runway?"

"I can try," Clara agreed, wincing when she tried once again to move. Only now did it fully register that she was wounded.

"Nope, you're hurt too badly," Dottie said quickly, going back over to Tera and making sure that her brakes weren't locked. It relatively easy to move the plane on her own, given Tera's smaller size. In a way, asking Clara to help was also a method to test the scale of her injuries without asking directly.

After getting Tera off the runway and directing Clara to follow, Dottie's priorities were quickly turned towards getting Tera to wake up again, but also to see if she could get Clara to explain what had triggered the fight. Once they reached the workshop, Dottie quickly pulled a few panels off of Tera to figure out what had caused her to fall into the stasis she was in. "Is there anything you remember at all from when all this was going on?" she asked Clara, paying attention as best as she could even if she was preoccupied.

"I... They..." Grimacing, she could hardly recall anything. Except one fact. "They took Foxtrot..."

"But how does that connect to you having a broken wing and a destroyed propeller… and Tera having the amount of damage she has? You didn't try to fight them off… did you?" Of course they didn't, but it was worth asking. Perhaps some of the injuries _were_ from earlier in the night.

"I don't know," Clara hissed, "I just don't know... I can't access memory files from the last hour. I can't remember."

"No need to be defensive." _And you're getting a full systems check as soon as I can get Tera up._ Of course, Dottie was pretty confident she knew what was wrong. It was a preventative reaction. "...so the last thing you remember was them taking Foxtrot? Nothing else?"

"Nothing else... I don't know what happened... I just can't remember..."

"Alright. Well, I figured this out, anyways," Dottie said almost to herself, clicking something into place that allowed the plane to wake up.

She immediately went into a defensive stance… or as much as was mechanically possible. Despite her limited vision at the moment, Tera was quickly able to make out that Clara was close by. "Fine! You win!"

"I win?" Clara sputtered, "What even happened?" Her head hurt; she couldn't think, she was in pain, and worst of all she couldn't even remember what had happened. "Wha-"

"I'm the only reason why you didn't go and get yourself killed!" Tera practically hissed, her voice hoarse and wavering.

Clara lowered herself on her landing gear; if what Tera said was true, she felt horrible. She couldn't have done this to her sister… never… Tera was the only blood family she had left. She'd never, ever attack… "I didn't mean to… at least… if I did… I…" She couldn't find the words. "I'm sorry."

She closed her eyes. It was too difficult for Tera to keep trying to look through her broken windshield… she assumed it was probably what Otter felt like a lot of the time. She didn't even know where specifically she was. "I almost did the same thing to you…"

"But I didn't…" Clara protested, "I couldn't… what exactly happened?"

"You tried to go after the transport plane that took Foxy."

"But what HAPPENED?" Clara almost yelled, not because she was mad, but simply because she was trying to figure out what in Chrysler's name had made her attack Tera… or if she even DID attack Tera in the first place -which was very difficult to believe.

Tera took a breath, trying to figure out how far back to explain. "If you _really_ don't remember… you decided to fly after the transport plane, and because of that I blocked you on the runway. You lost it after that… so did I… I challenged you to a fight just so I could ground you 'till you figured out you were being crazy. I broke your wing… but you won. Obviously," she said, wincing a little. If she wanted to be honest with herself, she was afraid she wouldn't make it out alive. But there she was.

Dottie didn't even know what to think. She'd have to probably see if Felix could help her get to the bottom of it… something was wrong with both planes. Something bad. If she could figure it out on her own, though, she would. "Well, whatever happened, it's good that both of you are alive, even if we don't know the extent of the damages yet."

"Dottie!? Eep… nonono." Tera forced her eyes open again, trying to roll forward and get out of the workshop. She couldn't move, though. Hydraulics.

"Yep. You're stuck here. For a while, it looks like."

"No… please no…"

"Sorry." Dottie busied herself with getting out diagnostic equipment… from what it looked like, she was going to have to run just about every test in the book to figure out how bad Tera was internally. As for Clara, though, it seemed like the only damage she had was her propeller and her wing… the latter of which Dottie debated fixing for the time being.

Clara was horrified. "I couldn't have... I'm so sorry. I don't know... I don't understand." Whenever she tried to process the information, it kept looping back to her with nothing to rectify whether or not it was the truth- or a lie. She highly doubted Tera would make up the elaborate story, but something still screamed to her to be wary.

"Well… we're both part warplane…" Tera was trying to figure out what had happened, as well. The only thing she could connect it to was what Otter had told her about how fighters acted. She didn't think that mix-breeds, other than her, would have been impacted… they weren't meant to fight in the first place. It was against their… _directives. Error._ She forced herself not to think about it. "...you don't even remember anything… whenever I go after someone like that, at least I remember why… didn't help that I kept trying to tell you that Foxy wasn't gonna… nevermind… but you _were_ acting weird."

"I'll still do anything in my power to get Foxtrot back," Clara ensured. "But, I'll never... I can't believe I even attacked... Why exactly did I attack in the first place?"

"...I started it. If I didn't… I had to… I had to hurt you to keep you from… error." What Tera didn't realize, or even care about, was that Dottie was still in the room, and she'd just caught her attention. Sometimes just letting the plane talk was easier than pressing for information, she mused. "Nevermind," the plane continued, forcing the thought out of mind. "I challenged you… they'd probably kill you if you followed."

"I'll stay here for now," Clara agreed reluctantly, "but if there's any hope…"

She stopped, wincing and almost hissing at whatever equipment Dottie was hooking her up to. Stupid diagnostics. Clara seriously couldn't have hurt her _that_ badly. "You'd be scrap metal!"

"I'd rather be scrap metal going after hope than whole and hopeless."

"Well _I'd_ rather you not dying." She heard Dottie pushing buttons on something… and then there were errors. So many she couldn't even keep them straight. "...error… too many errors… what's wrong?!"

"Diagnostics. It'll be over soon, but it keeps you from suppressing anything I might need to know about." Dottie was trying not to make Tera freak out even more, but a plane wasn't supposed to be flooded with error messages when a system scan was run. Already she could tell that there were more issues than would be addressable right away… the forklift was beginning to wonder exactly how many of Tera's systems were actually compatible with those of an F-18, when she saw something else in the list of errors the screen gave her. "Tera, who was your first mechanic?"

"...why?"

"Because I need to know."

"But why." The ice in Tera's voice was enough to substitute for a glare.

"A lot of your parts are custom, and you're only going to be able to take so much modification," she lied slightly. There was more to the story, but it wouldn't be kind to Tera to explain everything right then. Not in the state of mind she was in.

"But what if I don't know?"

"I think you do. Omega talked enough about you being on that base in Arizona."

Tera steeled herself even more. If Clara could do it, so could she. "...it slipped my mind. I don't remember."

"Or," the forklift replied grabbing a wrench and going over to her, "I can always find your serial number and look it up that way."

The plane's eyes widened, even if it was impossible for her to really see anything beyond general silouettes. "No!" Limited in movement as she was, she still managed to inch back a little out of pure fright. "...don't call him… please…"

"So you _do_ know." Regardless, Dottie still pulled a small part out of Tera that she knew was original, inspecting it for the number she was talking about. "And there is no reason to be skittish around forklifts. No one's going to hurt you."

"I can't - I can't fight like this." Tera was stumbling over her words beyond that of even a bad stutter. She felt almost as if something was making her talk like a broken record, but she couldn't help it.

Clara had managed to somewhat control her emotions, trying to substitute them with more logical ways of thinking. It was almost physically painful to do so, but she had to. "Tera, calm down. It's not like whoever it is is going to take you and trap you. Shoot, Dottie could probably just talk to him on the phone for most, if not all of what she needs to fix you."

"That's actually what I'm planning on doing. If you couldn't tell, you're not in the condition for transport." Dottie had already gotten the phone number from the computer in the workshop, programming it into a cordless phone and excusing herself, taking a sheet of paper with writing on it with her.

"...Great." At this point, Tera was taking her fear out in annoyance. "I don't - don't want him in all this."

"Why are you so afraid of this guy?" Clara asked, her voice small and gentle.

"When I was a kid, he wanted to push me into the - into the military." She forced herself to stop repeating words for the time being, difficult as it was. "...it didn't matter that I was supposed to race."

"You are part military plane," Clara observed. "But your directives are to race, so I'm a bit confused."

 _Error. Directive conflict 2733-TW._ "...I don't even know what my directives are anymore. Every time I think about it… I - I can't." Tera already knew that Dottie had seen the code during the diagnostic. "…I don't know what he'd do to me if he found out."

"He'd probably just fix the problem… whatever the problem is." Clara was confused; how could a plane not know their directives? It didn't make one bit of sense.

"Yeah. Fix it _his_ way."

It was then that Dottie returned to the room, putting the phone down and going back over to the two planes. "He seemed rushed, but after explaining what the diagnostics showed…"

"What?" Tera's voice had turned to ice again.

"He's sending a transport plane later today or early tomorrow, which means that my job right now is to make sure you're stable enough to be moved by then." The forklift got out a few things, deciding to start with hydraulics. If she worked quickly enough, it wouldn't take long at all. Then she could focus on helping Clara… and she still needed to tell Otter what was going on, if he didn't stop by beforehand.

"Great."

"Relax. Dottie and I will make sure that nothing happens to you that you wouldn't approve of… Or, at least nothing drastic like that… because I'm coming, and nobody's gonna stop me." She already lost Foxtrot. She wasn't losing Tera too.

Tera was admittedly getting her hopes up. "Really?"

"...you're going to have to ask them if you'll even be able to land there, Clara," Dottie said, almost regretfully. At least she was able to leave the other point untouched for then. She was being enough of a spoilsport already. "I don't know a lot about bases like that, but you probably have to be registered with them somehow."

"I'm sure they get visitors, perhaps I could land somewhere else- and because this is a medical emergency of sorts, it'd be wrong not to let family come."

" _Emergency?_ T-this isn't…" Tera tried to clear her mind, instead focusing on the civilians that had landed on the base all the time. Except there weren't any. They never landed at the base… well, not after her mother had lived there, anyways. But Clara was a mix-breed… maybe it was different. "...I don't wanna go alone."

"Well, we're gonna do our best," Dottie said, finishing up replacing Tera's hydraulic line. Upon completion, she shut the panel on the plane's side. "Move too much and you're going to hurt yourself more. So don't."

Tera merely flicked her ailerons a little, just happy that she wasn't totally helpless anymore. She was hurting too much to try to escape, anyways.


	4. Chapter 3

The roaring of the transport plane's landing encompassed the town, much like what had happened in the early morning that very same day. Most of the residents had gotten used to the large planes at this point; there had been at least three or four in the past month alone, which was very unusual for a town like Propwash, being a very small airport to begin with.

Tera didn't care that both Otter and Clara were there… and she didn't care that it was the only way she'd be able to fly again. She was still scared out of her mind, and she didn't want to leave. Even if Clara was going to go with her. That, and Dottie had already made both of them promise that they were going to behave… Tera'd already adjusted the meaning of the statement to be, 'behave until someone says or does something you don't like.' So, basically, all bets were off.

There were at least three forklifts that got off the plane, but, to Tera's surprise, the one she expected wasn't among them. As far as she could tell, anyways. Maybe she'd get lucky for now. One of them immediately went over to Dottie, pulling her aside and out of earshot of the other vehicles. The other two went straight over to the other planes, one of them beginning to inspect Tera to figure out how to move her without causing her more pain. The plane seemed to tense, but the forklift already knew that she had the potential to be a lot more difficult than she was being at the moment.

And then he tried to see what the extra panel on her side was for.

Tera snarled, moving forward a little in protest. "Touch that panel and I'll make you wish they'd never sent you. There's nothing wrong with it."

"But I need to know what it is."

"It's hydraulics, okay? Dottie already fixed it, so DON'T-" The forklift opened the panel anyways. Tera turned to the side, hitting the forklift as hard as she could with her wing… which wasn't even enough to do anything besides knock him backwards a bit.

"Tera," a stern voice sounded behind her. Otter. "Let the mechanics do what they need to." But if she'd been able to see him you could've seen the evidence of nervousness. He'd grown used to mechanics- they weren't the problem- but the fact they were from an airbase made him feel as if his blindness was ten times more debilitating. Luka was only inches away from his landing gear and he moved some to touch her, as if to be sure she was still there…

The plane attempted to stop fighting, but her instincts were on overdrive. She shouldn't be submitting to this. She shouldn't have even lost the fight with Clara to begin with. "I - I can't. I don't wanna leave. They're… they're gonna… error." She couldn't even think straight anymore. It was too difficult to keep from going completely insane.

Clara carefully made her way towards her sister and brushed her against the wing softly. She didn't know what to say… but she hoped it was enough.

Tera took a breath, trying to calm down. She wasn't alone. And as soon as everything was done, she'd be back in Propwash again… and maybe, just maybe, she could start racing next season.

That was, she stayed calm until Dottie came back into the room, followed shortly by one of the other forklifts. "Okay, we need to get you on that plane. It's blocking the runway."

Tera rolled her eyes, putting on her brakes the moment someone attempted to get her to move. "But I forgot something… Otter?" The plane, unstable on her landing gear as she was, turned to face the F-18 for a moment, her nose touching his in a slight nuzzle. "Don't go anywhere 'til I get back, okay?"

The plane stiffened, startled. Then he relaxed some, knowing it was only Tera, and returned the gesture. "I don't have much choice," he stated softly, a hint of wistfulness entering his voice. "I promise I'll be right here when you're back, waiting for you."

The main forklift, now obviously annoyed with Tera's antics, attempted yet again to guide her out of the hangar. The plane, also somewhat annoyed, finally gave up and turned away from Otter. There was something else she wanted to say… but she couldn't bring herself to form the words. She wouldn't mean them. She didn't even know what they meant. She couldn't define love.

"Tera, come on. Now." Dottie seemed even more stern than she was normally… which was saying something. Tera submitted, only to keep the other forklifts from practically dragging her out of the hangar against her will. They had to once they got into the light, anyways.

The sinking sun and the runway lights refracted off of Tera's shattered windshield, effectively blinding her as soon as they left the Fill N' Fly. The mix-breed stopped in her tracks, petrified of not knowing where she was going, even if she'd seen the path already. She didn't care. It could have changed. She tried reversing, but she had no luck in doing so… and she could tell that someone was trying to loosen her brakes. "Clara, you're still there, right?"

"I'm here," Clara called quickly from a position behind her. "What's wrong?"

Otter had heard her call as well, knowing somehow that nothing was wrong. Or, at least nothing worse than what had already happened. "You're alright," he said gently, "Unlock your brakes and nothing will happen."

"How do I know? ...there's no visual… I-I can't..." She didn't even know what was wrong… or how Otter survived without sight, but she already knew that whatever was outside her vision could be a potential danger. Which, right now, was everything.

"Tera," Otter spoke with a calm, quiet attitude, hoping she could find strength in it, "I know you're afraid, but there's nothing out to hurt you right now. We're all trying to help. Just pretend you're closing your eyes and move, alright? Just a bit."

She attempted to calm herself, instead focusing her energy on reversing her own instincts. Her brakes gradually began to unlock, and, feeling like she was about to roll off a cliff, she moved forward a couple inches; thankfully, it was enough to get the light out of her eyes. "...that was really stupid of me…"

Otter just smiled, "I did the exact same thing a time or two before I got used to being blind." He chuckled good naturedly, "I know how you felt."

"It's not fun. I know that much." Tera was more embarrassed than anything, looking bitterly at the ground. She'd spooked like a scared tractor. At _nothing_. At least with mechanics she actually had a reason to be afraid.

"Lucky for you it's not permanent… at least if you do as you're told and don't give the mechanics any trouble."

"... _only_ to fly again." She'd already made a vow to herself that she would bite if she had to to prevent them from doing anything unnecessary. "As soon as I can get off the ground I'll be back here." As she said that, though, she thought she saw one of the forklifts giving her an odd look. Her windshield was so broken that she couldn't tell for sure.

Otter smiled a tad at that answer, but his voice betrayed a seriousness not to be countered. "Just don't come flying back here with yourself still not in proper condition."

"Fine. When they clear me." Already she was hoping she wouldn't be gone for more than a week - and certainly not long enough for anything to happen otherwise - and then she remembered something else. "You'll take care of Teeva, right?"

"I will," Otter agreed.

"Thanks." And that was when she realized she'd been guided to the bottom of the ramp to the transport plane. She spoke before she could stop herself. "Crap... I don't wanna go."

"You're okay," Otter reassured in his ever gentle way.

"...no… I-I'm not." There was too much in flux. She wanted her directives to go back to the way they were. It felt like one wrong move would cause her to snap mentally… she barely had a scrap of sanity as it was. "...I don't wanna leave. I don't wanna leave _you_."

The other plane hardly knew what to say… "I don't want to leave you, either, but it has to happen. You' be back in no time… I'd come with you, but I can't."

"I know… but-" She didn't have room to argue. The plane sighed a little. "...I guess I don't have a choice… see ya soon," she finally said, somehow managing not to cry. But then again, all her processors were just trying to cope with fear at that moment.

"See you soon."

Tera didn't even know what was happening before the forklifts had all but forced her up the ramp. She couldn't have fought either way… she was too weak. The last things she saw before the doors shut was Otter and Clara, who was talking to Dottie a short distance away… and then she was trapped. Seemingly without hope, but, even if she had to keep telling herself so, she knew that she'd at least have Clara… though that thought still didn't help much.

xXx

As soon as Dottie made sure that Tera was being somewhat complacent, she went back over to Clara, pulling her aside and out of earshot of anyone else… she had to figure out how she was going to tell her what was going on. "Clara… I was just talking to one of the other forklifts. Tera's bad… really bad. I'm not going to go into technicalities, but he was saying that the only reason security was being let up for her was because of that." She only hoped the plane could understand what she was trying to tell her.

But of course Clara didn't, or, at least she didn't want to accept it. "What's that supposed to mean?" Clara hissed, feeling that she was the cause of all this.

"...it means that they're not going to let you on the base. No one's allowed there that hasn't been cleared."

Clara gazed blankly at Dottie. "And why haven't I been cleared?"

"They're not clearing anyone, Clara… they don't want family going with her." _That, and I had to explain what happened earlier_ , she wanted to add, but she didn't. It was hard enough as it was.

Clara cast a sidelong glare towards several forklifts. "And why not?" she nearly growled, loud enough to make a commotion.

"The base isn't in the condition to support civilian planes." Dottie was doing her best to keep her voice level, trying to direct Clara's attention away from everything else. All she needed to do was keep her on the ground long enough so she wouldn't cause a problem. "They already said that they weren't keeping Tera any longer than they had to because she's not a military plane. She'll be back in a week at the most."

"In a _week_ ," Clara snarled, "She won't last a day without someone she knows being with her! Correction: someone she knows and _trusts!_ You know her."

"I don't have any say in it, Clara… I'm not the one running the base. They are. And they already know enough about how she is that they had me wait to tell you so she'd cooperate." She heard the massive engines on the transport plane beginning to whine. "Clara, you _have_ to stay here. Tera will be fine… we have to trust them."

"I can trust them, it's _her_ I'm worried about," Clara argued, agitated. She didn't like that she'd attacked Tera, and the guilt was weighing heavily on her. She just had to stay by her sister's side… if anything happened, Clara wanted to be the first to know about it.

"I know you're worried… maybe I could set up something with the mechanic there so you can still get updates up here?" It wasn't much… but something had to be better than nothing.

Hesitating, Clara thought it over… but this argument was going nowhere. Perhaps if she kept pressing, however, Dottie would allow her something more. "Not enough," Clara hissed, "that's only helping me, not Tera."

It wasn't a bargaining game. They weren't even her rules. "The most I can do is talk to that mechanic to see what he would be willing to work out. I can't promise anything."

She didn't want to submit to Dottie. Every fiber of her being wanted to lash out, to desperately find any way to be there with Tera. Even so, she allowed herself to give in. "Alright." She hated herself for it, but she knew that this argument was getting nowhere… and worse, she felt different, as if a new part of her was showing. A part of her she didn't want to know.

It was a short moment before the transport plane took off, leaving the small town. And, thank goodness, Dottie had managed to keep Clara from going after it. Even if what she had told her was a slight lie. "Okay, then that's what I'll do. And… whatever happens, it'll be for the best. She'll be okay." At least, she hoped they would be… both Tera and Clara.

"Okay," was all she could say. Part of her couldn't dare believe that it'd be all right.

Dottie already knew it wouldn't be. There were very few things Otter's predictions weren't correct about.


	5. Chapter 4

Tony was rather cheerful since he'd gotten the call that morning.

Sure, the transport plane would be getting in late, but he didn't much care about that. He was glad that someone had found Tera before he had to report that she was missing… even if it would take a lot to get her back in the air, from the sound of it.

He double-checked the repair hangar one last time as he began to hear a little more commotion outside. Hopefully everything was relatively Tera-proof… if she hadn't changed much from a few years ago, anyways. Maybe she'd learned to tolerate mechanics… doubtful as the idea was. He paused for a moment, recollecting his thoughts and trying to remember if he'd forgotten anything. He'd already told Icarus and Alpha - both of them being flight instructors - about what was going on, and he didn't have much else to do besides checking the repair ward for a sixth or seventh time. All that was left was to wait for the transport plane.

The sun had long since set when the large plane landed, able to get off the runway, unlike many other places. Tony had arranged to have at least one plane around at most - if possible, all - times, and right now there were two planes with him. He didn't know if it would matter much, but at least there would be _someone_ there. One of his assistants, having just gotten off the plane, greeted him quickly. "...what would you say if I told you that she'd been in a couple accidents before this one?" he said, almost worried.

"I wouldn't be surprised… but what do you mean?"

"It's probably going to take longer than a week to get her to be flight-worthy. I have a full readout that we ran on the way over here."

"And you're not dead yet?"

"Her cockpit glass is shattered. She's practically blind."

"That would do it." Same old Tera. He rolled with the other forklift back to the transport plane, looking just inside the door to figure out what had been meant by 'more than a week.' And then he realized that the Propwash mechanic wasn't kidding when she said she'd utilized F-18 parts to keep her going.

Leaving as quietly as he'd came so as to not scare Tera too early, Tony took the opportunity to go back to the two flight instructors, still keeping his voice somewhat low but making sure Icarus could hear him, which really wasn't very low. However, he was relatively sure they were out of Tera's general earshot. "She's worse than what I thought. If either of you want to go home and sleep, I wouldn't blame you… it's going to be a long night."

Alpha, who didn't care much, just gave a quick nod, but looked up to Icarus. The other plane was staring intently at Tony in the dying light, having been reading his lips more than hearing him. "One of us should stay. We both remember Tera, and if anything goes wrong, you're going to want someone here." Then he turned to Alpha. "You can go home for the time being. We can take the night in shifts."

"Rodger that," Alpha responded dutifully, but there was slight curiosity as he glanced towards the transport plane. He never cared about Tera, nor remembered her very strongly, but he remembered Jake - and Tera was Jake's daughter, after all.

It was quiet for a moment, but then a huge commotion erupted from the transport plane, almost startling Tony as he turned back to see what was going on. Tera had broken out of where she was being held, attempting to unfold her wings and start her engine. Only one wing unfolded, and tendrils of black smoke were emerging from under her main panel. Some of the forklifts had scattered at first, but quickly reconvened to try to keep the plane from hurting herself more.

Tony almost winced at the sight. "...and _that_ is why someone needs to be around. She's gonna end up killing someone if we're not careful."

Icarus' reaction was the same. "If she doesn't kill herself first," he boomed in his naturally echoing voice.

The plane picked up on the comment. "I am NOT gonna kill myself!" Tera argued, not knowing specifically where the voice was coming from, but still fighting all the same. It was taking all her remaining strength to keep from submitting… she wanted to, but there was no way she actually would. She couldn't.

Tony finally went over to her, hopefully not acting as 'threatening' as she made him out to be. "Tera-"

"Tony?!" the plane reversed away from the sound, making it clear that someone had partially disabled her braking system by accidentally hitting a forklift behind her. Or maybe it was intentional. "Why couldn't Clara land here? S-she's-" Tera couldn't think to finish her sentence. She had to stay on the defensive… if she couldn't have family, there was something wrong. Clara herself had even said she'd be there.

"You know most civilians aren't allowed here. Just because she's your friend-"

"She's my sister!"

Now was not the time. "Maybe you can call her later, but the longer you fight like this, the longer you're gonna have to stay here."

Tera fell silent - she wished she could argue, but power had diverted from her speech mechanisms just to keep her from having to give in. Instead, she put even more of a distance between herself and Tony.

Icarus had come closer, shadowing Tony like a hawk, and dwarfing Tera by comparison. "Tony isn't going to hurt you, and if you weren't in such bad condition you probably wouldn't have been brought here," he stated -though he sounded like he was yelling. "You're here to let us help you, not damage you further -whether or not you trust mechanics." Icarus himself was a handful when mechanics were around, but he'd been conditioned to being hauled around, and he found no reason for anyone to fight them as much as Tera was now.

Even more frightened than before, the plane tried to back further away from the two of them, but it didn't help her much. Tony could already tell she was almost at the breaking point. She didn't have a lot of strength to begin with. "Look… I know you're scared. It's late and we're all tired. At the very least we could get you inside."

When her voice finally came back, it was more robotic than it was normal. "...no… I don't want to- error."

 _Thank goodness Alpha isn't over here_. "It's okay. You just need to calm down a little," Tony said, signalling a couple other forklifts to come help him.

Tera, however, decided that she'd rather move on her own at first… until the light from the hangar glared in her windshield again. She remembered what Otter had told her, closing her eyes until she thought the glare was gone. It wasn't. She tried to turn away, but forklifts were already supporting her.

She regretted surrendering. Tony knew about the error, and it was all her fault that she'd even said anything. Her life was over - no, it wasn't. It couldn't be. She was going back home in a week. And she was flying there. Herself. She just had to keep her mind off of everything for now. Maybe she could focus on trying to get her normal speech back. "W-who are you?" she directed at the larger plane, her voice still cracked and metallic.

The Thunderchief heard her, but just barely. "I am Icarus, one of the flight instructors. In this case I also serve as someone to keep you from harming anyone else or yourself further."

"I'm not gonna hurt anyone!" Tera retaliated, attempting to stop again, but failing. It didn't matter much - they had already entered the hangar before the glare had cleared enough for her to tell where she was. "I just… I don't -" she stopped herself before she said it.

"I'm not saying you will," Icarus assured gently -though still at the volume as before. "I'm just saying that it's my job to make sure that doesn't happen, whether or not you actually would cause problems or not." _And so far, I can name more than one…_

"But-" Tera paused. She didn't have an argument… she'd already gotten in enough trouble on the base before. It was only fair. "...why are you yelling, anyways?"

"He's hard of hearing, Tera," Tony said quickly, hopefully diffusing a possible bad situation if need be - once he and a couple other forklifts had guided her to where she needed to be, he opened her panel to try to clear the rest of the smoke from earlier. There was a reason why he left the hangar door open most of the time.

"Can't hear half as well out of one side than the other, and both sides aren't great," Icarus explained further, hoping to use his disability as a distraction -even if only temporarily- as Tony worked on her. In all honesty, the only reason he'd picked up on Tony's words was because he was reading his lips.

Tera was confused… and it didn't help that her engine was still hurting from her escape attempt. "...but then how are you understanding us?"

"Lip reading. You pick up on it after a while - like sign language, except with mouth rather than wings or tail or landing gear."

"I guess it makes sense," she said, wincing a little when Tony decided to check something. She didn't know why it hurt. "What are you doing?!"

"Making sure you didn't blow your engine getting off the plane."

"What?!" Tera attempted to reverse, but didn't go very far. She couldn't… fighting was making it worse.

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised," Tony said, looking the slightest bit annoyed. "It happens when you act the way you do."

"But-" she stopped herself again. She couldn't think. "...I just wanna go home… I didn't mean to…"

"You'll be out of here as soon as possible," Icarus reassured her, giving her a half truth for the time being. He knew Tera's fate, but that would be accepted with time, and once all of her programming errors were sorted out.

Tony only continued trying to figure out what specifically had happened, though in mere minutes he had a definite conclusion. The 'failsafe' did what it was put there to do. "...it might just take a bit longer than I thought originally… and we might have to do some things a bit different to get you flight-worthy. Some parts will have to be updated."

The plane nodded slightly, still scared out of her mind. Both Icarus _and_ Tony were acting weird… but then again, she'd only just met Icarus. "...how different?"

"You have F-18 wings, how much more 'different' can you get?"

"...will I be able to race again?" Her eyes were darting around the room, looking for something that could give her the answer… even if it was already difficult to see beyond the shatter pattern.

"I don't know yet. We'll see."

Tera was doing all she could to not lash out at someone, instead staring straight ahead at her twisted propeller and the remaining wisps of smoke coming from her engine. She didn't even know what to think anymore. It all hurt too much… the disruption in her mind only kept increasing in strength the longer she was there. "Error - directive -" She tried to speak normally. "...I have to race… it's - it's my..."

"...even if it's hard, you can overcome your directive," Icarus spoke gently. _I'm just glad Alpha isn't here to hear this_. The plane still didn't function 'properly' without the ability to fly or to fight, yet Alpha seemed to be at least somewhat stable in foundation. "But let's hope for the best."

 _Error: Main engine failure._ Tera winced at the message. "...I don't know if I can."

"You're probably right in that. There's too much damage here for even a salvage attempt," Tony said, looking rather solemn; he really was a decent actor when he wanted to be, he had to admit. "...and I don't think I can get the clearance to get another engine like that delivered here. Propeller-driven planes aren't used much anymore."

"...no… you can't..."

"She isn't some robot of yours," Icarus agreed, "she's a living being. As much as I doubt that anyone would give you clearance, you should at least try." He knew well enough when Tony was faking, but even so… what he was suggesting still might be the only option.

Tony had half a mind to tell Icarus to shut up right then and there. But he didn't. That wasn't how he worked by any means. "I can try, but it's next to impossible to even get parts for Alpha half the time… it's just how the government does things." The forklift went back over to the computer in the hangar, legitimately researching several different keywords until he found what they were after… only to find that it had been discontinued. "See? Even if They did clear it, it's not in production anymore."

"Is-is there anything else that-that might...?" Tera almost didn't have the capacity to ask. She could only hope...

"...I don't know of any other engine out there that could support your systems," he said in all seriousness, not even having to act anymore. "Tera, you have to believe me when I say that you _were_ originally built to be a jet. Something like this was going to happen eventually whether you fought it or not."

"No… nonono… please no…"

Icarus had no words of comfort. "Tony's telling the truth, Tera. It's probably for the better… as much as it pains you to hear."

"But… I-I _can't!_ " The plane was on the verge of tears; errors only continued to ring out in her mind… she didn't understand. She couldn't. "They don't let jets race!"

"Jets can do so many other things, though," Icarus commented. "Perhaps there's something similar to racing you might enjoy?"

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT MY DIRECTIVE _IS!_ "

Glancing at Tony, Icarus let out a breath. "We're going to help you figure it out. Where you think you belong may not-" he yawned, "be what is best for you."

Tony had been quietly analyzing the last few exchanges; if anything, he was concluding if Alpha should even be allowed around Tera until later. "I have to agree," he said, jumping off of Icarus's statement. "...for a while I thought I was going to spend my life on a submarine. But anyways… we should probably all turn in for the night. You can go home, Icarus. I'm staying here just in case anything happens."

"Are you sure you don't need me around? Would you like me to fetch Alpha?"

A look of recognition passed over Tera, her panicked disposition dulling somewhat - in all actuality, Tony was surprised she was even familiar with the name… as far as he knew, the planes had never met before. Had they? It'd be interesting to find out. That, and he wasn't going to start work on Tera at least until morning… he needed to sleep if he was to trust himself with the task ahead. "You know… yeah. You can go get him if you want."

Icarus nodded, then left the hanger.


	6. Chapter 5

A few minutes later, Alpha came in. The Hellcat had a look of curiosity, but also fear, on his face and in his eyes. "So you are Tera?" he asked.

"And you're Alpha," Tera responded simply, trying to keep her glitching at bay for the time being, even if she couldn't really help the metallic inflect in her voice. "...Omega talked about you a lot."

"You know Omega?" He asked, his eyes brightening at the Warhawk's mention.

"Saved me from an ice storm a few years ago. If he hadn't been there, I would've crashed in the middle of nowhere." She tried not to think about what happened afterwards - how Omega got sick because of it - but even so… she didn't feel much emotion about it, even if she knew she should; perhaps the errors were causing it. She glanced around, trying to figure out where Tony went… but it was almost like he'd disappeared. Or he just wasn't in her visual field.

"Do you still know him?" Alpha pried, his eyes glinting with some odd cross between curiosity and fear… or perhaps that was just a glitch? "He taught me a lot about flying, almost everything I know… even if…" His eyes blinked again… it was most certainly a glitch. "Even if I can't fly."

Tera took a breath, closing her eyes for a minute. She didn't understand why she wasn't sad… she didn't have a pit in her tank or anything. Maybe that's what had happened to Clara when the government took Foxtrot. "...I stayed with him after that… but a few months ago he got sick. Really sick. He-he didn't make it."

The older plane's eyes turned downwards towards the ground. "Oh," he said softly. "I'm sorry I didn't know…"

She shook her nose, immediately regretting the movement and wincing a little. "...I-I don't know how many _do_ know… most of Propwash found out right away… but I don't-don't think anyone else did."

"I regret not keeping in touch," he said. "It's good to see you again, though. I mean, I didn't really know you, but…" Everyone who'd ever lived on the base was family to him.

"I really just wanna go home." The plane settled lower on her landing gear, tired but not willing to fall asleep. Sleeping would mean letting her guard down, which wasn't happening anytime soon.

"But this is your home," Alpha stated, confused. "You were built and raised here…" Didn't she have any loyalty to the base? How could she bear to call another place home?

"Everyone I knew here has either died or moved on. You-you can still probably see the charring where my dad crashed out there."

 _This entire base is a family…_ "You still have family here," he said, his eyes glitching again.

"Who? My sister? They-they didn't even let her land." What was _wrong_ with this plane? "I'm-I'm _not_ staying here."

Shuffling his landing gear awkwardly, Alpha tried desperately to understand why she would want to _leave._ "I wasn't trying to convince you stay." Then Tera's former words struck him oddly. "Sister? You can't possibly have a sister…"

"Why-why not? My mom left the base and had a kid built with someone else. We're not totally related… but-but we're pretty close to it. She's a hybrid, too."

Alpha shot a glare at Tony -regardless if the forklift was paying attention to him or not. "It's unfortunate they didn't let her on the base… I understand their concerns, but it's the least they could have done for you." Just because Alpha knew the laws of the base didn't mean he liked 'em… and to him, family and surrounding yourself with those you were close to was one of the most important things -even if he acted distant and skittish around most planes.

"She was the one that put you here, Tera," Tony said, jumping back into the conversation and trying not to yawn… their argument was cutting in on a potential nap. "Keeping her off the base was for _your_ safety as much as hers."

"How do you know - know that?! It wasn't even her fault. The government took her husband _in the middle of the night_."

"That's no excuse. A plane like that should be labeled as dangerous… kind of like how you broke her wing in the same fight… I'm guessing _before_ she hurt you like that."

"I'm NOT dangerous!" The plane was trying to move again, attempting to fold the wing she had unfolded earlier, but something malfunctioned and she couldn't. At least, not completely. "I'm not a fighter… Clara isn't, either. We both race."

Tony closed his eyes for a second, somewhat annoyed and tired. "I'm not gonna argue with you right now. Alpha, I'm trusting you to keep her out of trouble. She doesn't have to sleep if she doesn't want to, because if she starts fighting me tomorrow I _will_ tie her down." For once, he didn't even care that the plane in question was on the verge of growling at him, flicking her rudders indignantly. He'd seen much worse.

Alpha just sighed. "Yessir," he responded dutifully. "I'm not sure she has the _ability_ to be all that much trouble."

"Maybe not, but I don't wanna take too many chances. Like you said, you don't know her very well," he added, then leaving the room… though he wasn't entirely sure that leaving Alpha with Tera was the best idea in the world.

The mix-breed continued to glare as the forklift departed. "It doesn't-doesn't matter how many years go by. He treats me like a fledgling."

Alpha shrugged. "He does it to everyone, I think… or, most everyone. He's always treated me like that… and I'm a lot older than you are."

"...he acts like that around you, too? I-I thought I was the only one."

"Definitely not!" Alpha said, a slight snarl in his voice. "Tony's got me tied up like an animal in here - has had since I found out I couldn't fly. Can't trust me on my own. I admit, he probably trusts me more than you - just the fact he's letting me guard you is enough to tell me that - but he certainly doesn't like me much either."

"I don't get-get it… we're still vehicles." Tera was beginning to hate the way her voice sounded. It was only becoming more robotic with every sentence. Not to mention that the glitching was making her sound like a broken record. "He's gonna turn me into a jet and he's _happy_ about it..." She hoped the sun would never come up. Even if she was hurting, it didn't matter. At least she still had a slight chance at following her directive until then.

Alpha cringed. "He's happy about anyone crashing so long as he can experiment on them…" His eyes glitched again, this time for longer. "You're just lucky you'll be able to fly again."

"...is-is that what's wrong with your eyes?" she asked, almost afraid… but emotions were already gone. They weren't necessary for staying awake and somewhat operational, which she had to be if she wanted to defend herself. "Did he experiment on you?"

"What do you think? He tried to figure out what was wrong with my design, and why my wings wobble in the air," Alpha almost snarled, but he left it be. "I've got it bad enough… and he just gave me this glitch in my eyes -without first even asking what I wanted."

"...so I'm just gonna be the next test subject."

Alpha sighed. "If I could get you out of this, believe me I would, but here's your home. This is where you belong."

"No. It's-it's not," she said, her voice reduced to not much more than a metallic growl. "Otter is home. Clara is-is home. Omega-" she cut herself off, settling as low on her landing gear as she could without touching the ground - that hurt too much.

"Omega left his home, and I'm not sure why," Alpha sighed, "He wasn't supposed to. He should've stayed here, at the base… it's where he belonged." He closed his glitching eyes, "But whatever the case, Propwash wasn't his home."

"This place isn't _my_ home, either," she replied, struggling to stay awake. She didn't realize how long she'd been up… even if she didn't want to sleep, it was getting difficult to resist.

Alpha just didn't understand. She was _raised_ on this base… this was her home. "But it _is_."

"No. This-this isn't." Tera turned slightly, enabling her to 'watch' the door better… even if she was practically asleep already. If she didn't wake up before sunrise, she wouldn't have a chance of fighting.

Alpha had been around enough planes to know when an argument had gone far enough. "You should sleep," he said flatly.

Tera attempted to shake her nose. "No… I'm not…" it didn't matter, though - the plane fell asleep mid-sentence, slightly resting her propeller on the ground.

The Hellcat chuckled quietly to himself, feeling his own eyes drooping, but he had to stay alert and awake. As much as he hated Tony, he had his orders, and they were first and foremost.


	7. Chapter 6

Sunrise came. The morning air was brisk and cold, to Tony's standards anyways, as he made his way back to the repair ward for the day ahead. Surprisingly, he opened the door to find Alpha still awake… and Tera was sound asleep. "How did you…?" he asked quietly, gesturing towards the sleeping plane.

"She conked out a few hours ago," Alpha shrugged. "Hasn't stirred much since."

"Well, I'm impressed." He rolled over to Tera, opening her side panel gently. She stayed asleep. Inspecting the hydraulic line, he guessed he'd easily be able to stem movements by putting a kink in it. He had to rerun most of the system anyways, so damage wouldn't be that big of a deal. "I got her glass ordered for later today, so at least she'll be able to see… wings and tail are gonna take a bit longer, but they're gonna get here."

"That's good. Poor plane doesn't know how she'll get passed her conflicting directives." _Like me…_ He still hadn't recovered from being told he'd never fly. It was something he _had_ to be able to do to fulfill any of his directives. His eyes glitched just thinking about it.

Tony winced inwardly - he didn't _mean_ for Alpha to acquire a glitch like that… he couldn't fix it, but he also wished he hadn't tinkered with him. "Oh, she will. That's not even something I'm worried about," he said, "It'll take time… something we don't exactly have at the moment, but it should work, I think. Just trust me on this one."

"Uh-huh," Alpha said, eyeing the forklift, "That's what you said once when you thought you could fix my issues. I don't want her ending up like me. I'm all messed up - everyone knows it, including me. Don't mess her up too." _She's already bad enough._

"Do you _really_ think I could make her situation any worse? She can hardly even move on her own as it is," he said, catching the plane stirring out of the corner of his windshield. "You can go home if you want… Icarus should be by here in a bit."

Alpha nodded. "Yeah, I should probably get some shuteye. But one thing's for sure - don't get cocky and think you can do it all. Only do what you have to. She's not a toy."

 _No, she's not a 'toy'. She's a project,_ he wanted to say, but refrained. After all, Alpha was technically a project, as well. Tony kept an eye on Tera, but she didn't seem to be waking up very fast, if she even was. "I'm working off of blueprints that had to be approved by the government," he said, rolling over to the computer and quickly pulling up a couple diagrams. The sleeping plane moved again. "Everything that's going to happen to her is documented there. There shouldn't be anything left to guessing."

It sounded convincing, but there would always be mistrust and even treachery in the back of Alpha's mind. "Good. Call me over if you need me again -just remember I have _actual_ work to do today on top of it all."

"I know," Tony replied, "Oh! But I do have some good news. After everything that happened last night, I pulled a few strings to get you a couple extra hours to sleep. You shouldn't have to do anything today before ten-hundred hours."

Alpha gave Tony a smile, "Thanks. I appreciate that."

"It's the least I could do. Now go get some sleep," he told him, "You earned it."

"Thanks," he said again, rolling away from the hangar where Tera was being repaired, and worrying considerably about her future… and desperately hoping that she wouldn't turn into someone like himself.

xXx

Tony quickly turned his attention back to the sleeping plane… except she was already awake, staring at the blueprints on the screen… what she could see of them, anyways. Her expression said it all.

"It looks like a lot-" Tony quickly closed out of the image, doing what he could to try to keep her somewhat calm.

Tera struggled to find the words, her voice even more glitchy than the day before. "...my… wings?"

"Yours aren't designed to go on you. They're entirely too big, for one. And I don't even _know_ how you figured out how to fold them. Besides, your new ones are going to have your jet engines built into them, so they'd have to be replaced either way."

She looked like she wanted to cry, her eyes glitching somewhat… almost like Alpha's, but not nearly so intense. Programming overload? Tony didn't know. Tera tried to move in an attempt to get away from her impending fate, but she was still slow enough that Tony had managed to put a kink in her exposed hydraulic line. And, as he'd predicted, it stopped her in her tracks. She cried out weakly. "No… nonono… please no…"

"I have to. You're gonna hurt yourself more." He went about his business, opening her main panel to reveal her destroyed engine once again. That was going to be the first thing to go. Besides the pretzel that was her propeller, anyways. Grabbing a wrench, he began loosening the offending thing.

"No… n-n-no." The plane attempted to reverse, but to no avail. "Error… direct-directive conflict…"

"I know. This is all to try to get that to go away." Tony was speaking rather absentmindedly. "I didn't want to give you that racing directive in the first place…"

"I DON'T WANNA BE A JET!"

He stopped what he was doing, meeting her eyes with a mix of annoyance and something Tera couldn't quite place. "Yes, you do."

The plane fell silent, eyes wide.

"You should've seen the way you watched the jets flying around here… you wanted to be up there doing the same tricks they did." He went back to what he was doing. Tera couldn't feel her propeller anymore, but she didn't care. She was fighting to _get away_. "You know… if your dad would've let me, this would've been done a _long_ time ago."

It was pretty obvious that he wasn't watching her hydraulic pressure.

Forcing herself to reverse, Tera could feel the clamped line springing a leak in response, giving her more freedom to move for the time being. She put all her strength into her engine, trying to get it to start, resulting only in a sickening grinding sound and more smoke. And it hurt. A lot.

But it _couldn't_ hurt like that. That was just her imagination. The smoke was her windshield distorting her vision, like it did with the runway lights back in Propwash. The more she moved, the more leaks she could feel. More than just her main line. Her hydraulics were destroyed - no, they weren't. Her imagination again. It had to be. She could still move. Moving was good. If she could move, she could get to the runway. If she could get to the runway, she could fly. She could prove that everyone was overreacting.

"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH," Icarus' voice boomed, overpowering the noise of the fighting airplane as he made his way inside the hangar. "TERA, STOP!" He doubted she'd listen to him, but she was going to kill herself if she kept this up. "STOP THIS NOW."

The look in her eyes told him that she didn't care. She wasn't submitting. Not without a fight - even one she was destined to lose. And not without proving that she wasn't broken. Her speech mechanisms had shut down to conserve power, but hopefully she still had enough in her to at least get outside. Everything was giving out on her - error message after error message that things were wrong filtered through her mind. She dismissed them all, trying her hardest to get to the door… the sun looked so nice…

The Thunderchief's hulking frame blocked much of the door, taking a defensive position there. He didn't want to hurt her further, but at such a downward rate… the mix breed in front of him would probably rather kill herself than submit. He'd witnessed her freezing up from her broken windscreen… Cringing, he lunged forward, slamming his needlepoint nose into her eyes, shattering the glass completely.

Tera's vision erupted in static and fog. Frozen in both fright and pain, she tried to move, to do anything at all… but she couldn't. Her hydraulics were too far gone, even if she _could_ work up the courage to fight. It hurt worse than anything she'd felt before, her strength disappearing with each second she stood frozen. She couldn't keep it up. And she already knew the mechanic would take advantage of her weakness.

Tony quickly put a small ramp to Tera's side, managing to get close enough to her cockpit so he could open it, pulling several plugs out of their sockets. The plane immediately stopped, her glitching eye display vanishing.

"...you didn't show up a moment too soon," the forklift said, rolling off the ramp and pushing Tera closer to the back of the hangar, where she was originally. Keeping himself busy almost always hid fear. "I don't even know what happened… she just snapped."

"I can't say I blame her," Icarus said, looking sickened by the sight of the younger plane. "I'm just glad Alpha wasn't here to see that…"

"I sent him home before I even _tried_ doing anything." He wanted to put a tarp on the half-dead plane for the time being… but she overheated herself and needed to cool off before Tony could attempt working on her. That, and the glass was a safety hazard. "...I wanted to keep her awake as much as possible… her processors might overload if I turn her off and bring her back up when it's done."

Icarus flinched at the thought. "I'd keep her shut down for at least the worst part -whatever that may be."

"That's the problem. It's like trying to install a new computer system… it'll only register when the computer is on. If I do that…" already the forklift was attempting to come up with a solution - it'd be a _lot_ safer if he could repair Tera while she was down. Even if he'd have to keep Alpha out of the hangar for a while. "I could give her just enough power to get her to recognize the changes."

He went back over to the plane, reconnecting a couple wires to test the theory. And, sure enough, it resulted in a small amount of computer activity. This could work. "...let's make sure Alpha doesn't come in here…"

Icarus nodded solemnly, "I hope it works… but yes, this is the last thing Alpha needs to know about. He's messed up already…"

Tony almost cringed. He didn't need reminding. "...she's not gonna end up like him. I swear." _The base can't afford another failure like that._

"I hope you're right," the plane said, "for your sake and hers."

"Well, there's only one way to find out if I am."


	8. ERROR

_Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: shutdown aborted - Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: visual nonfunctional - Error: auditory nonfunctional - Error: drive nonfunctional - Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: main engine failure - Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: I cannot be a jet - Error: 2733-TW directive conflict - Error: I DO NOT WANT TO BE A JET MAKE IT STOP - Error - Error - Error - Error: racing directive defragmentation in progress . . . ._

It must've been day seven or eight when Tony finally got around to getting rid of Tera's old wings. It'd been rather unnerving the first couple days, working on a plane he knew was very much alive… even if she looked dead to the world. But there really wasn't any other way. Her fighting would just make the overhaul more painful.

Starting up his cutting torch and beginning to dismantle the assembly, he worked as precisely as possible in separating the unnatural parts from the plane's fuselage, which he wanted relatively intact. It'd minimize the patching he was going to have to do later.

But after a couple minutes, he could've sworn he heard a drip behind him.

Tears? 

...she'd run out eventually.


	9. Chapter 7

**Apologies for the long chapter. It's impossible to break this chunk up in a way that makes sense.**

Dark wisps of paint fumes filled the hangar, Tony struggling to keep the spray gun working long enough to finish touching up the job. If anything, the forklift figured it would be kinder to get it done before he rebooted Tera. It wasn't like the stealth fighter would have much of a choice in color - carbon nanotubes only came in black - plus the dark color would be better for nighttime missions. Even if the paint mixture itself wasn't the best for his equipment.

Once he had ensured that he'd coated every inch of the plane - besides the new glass, which was taped off at the moment - Tony put away the spray gun and turned on a large UV lamp, shining it on her for the time being. The paint would be dry in a few minutes, maximum, at which point he could reactivate her. There wasn't anything else to wait for. He'd already called for Icarus, just as extra security in case Tera snapped again. He didn't think she would, though… not if everything went right. Her coding should theoretically correct itself.

"I just hope that she won't kill you after this," Icarus commented as he came in, glancing over the now black plane before pinning his eyes on Tony. Despite his glare, his voice was light. "I've been thinking… what are we supposed to tell her so-called family up in Minnesota? If all works, I don't think she'll be going back…"

"It's going to work. And if it doesn't, she'll be too unstable to leave the base, anyways." In all honesty, he'd been wondering about what to do about that for a while. He rolled back over to the plane, checking to see if her paint was dry yet. Finding that it was, he turned the light off and pushed it away for the time being. "Let's see what she does before we figure that out."

"Right," he said simply. "And if she's a monster?"

"Remote kill switch," he replied, gesturing to the main computer in the hangar. "If it gets destroyed or I give it the command, she shuts down." There was no way, after what happened last time, that he was going without a backup plan. Especially since the plane seemed to override her pain tolerance level if she was mad or scared enough… though he didn't know to what degree.

He still didn't like the way Tera was being treated, but Icarus had to admit… this was a situation that wasn't good for anyone. "Good."

"Exactly. I'm not leaving anything to chance this time." The forklift rolled up the ramp at Tera's side, pulling the tape and paper off her windshield and opening her cockpit again. He reconnected the cables he'd disconnected at the beginning of the whole mess, effectively rebooting the plane within a few seconds.

When Tera's eye display came back online, it quickly recognized the color change and reacted accordingly, her eyelids changing to match… and then everything else registered, as well. She didn't have a propeller… and _everything_ hurt besides. She couldn't even comprehend what had happened, even if it felt like she already did. Literally. "Tony, you-" she tried to say something, but it came out more like a series of rough electronic tones.

The forklift understood what the plane meant… but he'd _never_ heard her use AI-speak to express it before. "Tera-"

She growled. After saying something else in the other language, the content of which Tony tried to ignore, she switched to English and her voice softened, her attention suddenly being pulled a million ways at once. "...what did you do to me…" Tera tried, gingerly, to test her new ailerons. They moved, but only a little. And they caused pain, like everything else. Even her engines, which were itching to be started up and used regardless, were torture to her. "It hurts… why does it still hurt..." her voice broke a little. She hated the emotion she was feeling. She attempted to move forward, but immediately regretted it. Every effort to ignore the soreness only made it more prominent.

"Easy there," Icarus said in a gentle but firm tone, despite his loud voice. "Don't over exert yourself."

"Or _what?_ You'll break my windshield again?" she snarled, wincing as she shifted on her landing gear.

"Or maybe because it'll cause you less pain," Icarus reasoned. His face was one of both worry and pity, as well as something that looked like empathy. Tera hated it.

"I don't care! I have to move… I have to go back home… they probably think I'm dead or something by now..." She tried to force her flaps downwards. Didn't work. _Nothing_ was working. It was all too stiff and new… but there were no tears to signify her frustration. "Everyone kept saying this was gonna help…"

Icarus' face turned to one of pain just by thinking about her. He hadn't caught most of her words, but he knew enough to guess. "You…" he didn't want to lie and say she was going home, mostly because he just didn't know. "They…" There were no comforting words.

"What he's trying to say, Tera, is that you're not going back." Tony said, keeping his tone rather neutral. It was more logical to tell her when she was still weak.

"What?! Why?!" The plane stopped what she was doing, frozen in confusion and panic.

"Think about it. How many did you put in danger when you left here?"

Tera looked away.

"You don't even know, do you?" He took the silence as a 'no,' continuing anyways. "Bases like this… they're designed for military vehicles, and you are one, like it or not."

"No… I'm not… I'm only half… I'm not dangerous!" She tried to keep any sort of composure she had left… which wasn't much. She didn't want to cry. She _couldn't_ cry.

"Then identify your primary directive."

"Aerial stealth tactics and warfare." The plane paused. Something was wrong. The errors... were just gone.

"If that isn't proof, I don't know what is."

"No! That's not right… I'm a racer... I've always been a racer…" Tera ran a scan of her system - something she'd never done before - trying desperately to find whatever it was that was missing. "...I'm not a fighter…"

"You're a fighter," Icarus pressed gently, "you were always supposed to be."

"No. _No._ My dad never wanted me to be like this. I can't race with my sister like this." She didn't want to race. She wanted to fight and cause injury and pain. Even if it was against everything anyone had ever told her.

Icarus sighed, wishing that by some miracle Tera might understand his next words. "Tera, stop fighting to regain that part of you. It's not there."

"...I can't…" Nothing was making sense. Bloodlust was wrong. "I'm not a murderer!"

"I didn't say you were. And you are not. There's a difference between protecting and serving your country and senseless killing."

"What if I don't _want_ to serve the country?"

"It doesn't work like that. You've already been inducted," Tony said. "I just have some paperwork to finish."

" _What?!_ But… that means…" She hadn't even realized until that moment that she wasn't painted her typical silver and green. She was black. Flat black. "...my colors…"

"It's required for stealth planes," Icarus answered simply.

"Why couldn't I just stay how I was?" she hissed. Tera couldn't win. She already knew it. Everything that made her herself was gone. The plane attempted moving again, this time yielding more results than before, even if it still hurt. She didn't know if she was depressed, angry, frightened, or all three. Or none. She wanted to go outside. Maybe to visit her old hangar before she left for Propwash again. "All this base ever does is run drills."

The larger plane gave Tony a sidelong glance. "You may or may not have to stay here," he said, "you'd have to ask Tony, but I'd bet there might be a chance of transfer." _However unlikely that may be._

"I. Don't. Want. To transfer. I. Want. To go. Home," Tera growled, glaring at Icarus. "As soon as I can get off the ground, I _will_ go home."

"The government has to have you here. We're about to go to war. Any day now, the notice is gonna come that we're an active base again… and you're earmarked as a stealth fighter. Hopefully you'll be competent enough to fill the position your dad did, because we don't have anyone else."

"Then what happened to Steve? He hung around my dad enough to learn about them." She hadn't seen the F-16 since she got there.

"He wasn't a stealth plane, for one. For two, he was a _traitor_ , Tera. _You_ weren't there to see it _._ He bombed the base with the fleet he trained."

"Sounds like he had a pretty good idea." The plane's eyes glitched, her irises flashing a brilliant red as she spoke.

Casting an uneasy glance towards Tony, he responded, "His disloyalty costed him his life, which could've been avoided… he had a terrible idea."

"Maybe if he did better I wouldn't be here," Tera said bitterly. "They could've found another way to fix me. So I didn't have to be like this."

"How dare you. There are civilian planes that would do just about anything-" Tony started.

"Then pick one of them!"

"It doesn't work like that."

"Why not?" The plane was getting annoyed with the tint in her vision. She didn't know what it was that changed… but everything seemed sharper. And oddly-colored. "Why do you need _me_. If it's such a _huge_ war that's coming up, then find someone else."

"Because technology like you is hard to come by," Icarus said, not watching his words. "You were built for this, and though you may not see it now, you'll be happier this way."

"I'd rather fly into a mountain." The cynical tone in Tera's voice was even more prominent, already sick of both of the vehicles in the room. She didn't care what they said. Her state was not a good thing. It couldn't be, and it never would be. She inched forward a little more, finding that it was already getting easier to move… even if her wings and tails were still stiff and impossible to use. "...is it okay if I go outside? I… I need a minute."

Icarus wanted to say yes, but outside could mean flight, and flight mean escape… or worse. "I don't know… what do you think, Tony?"

"She's not moving fast enough to be a problem, I don't think." The forklift was acting almost unnaturally relaxed.

Tera stopped. "What's the catch?"

"Go anywhere near either of the runways and you'll be in here for another week. Minimum."

"...fine. I don't care." The plane rolled her eyes, leaving the hangar anyways. Anything to get out of there. Besides… she only had to listen to Tony until she could fly again. Then all bets would be off. Her vision distorted just thinking about it.

Tony waited until Tera was out of earshot. "She's not gonna hurt herself like that again. I could probably cut her engines remotely before she tries to take off, if I have to." Already he was thinking ahead to the government inspection. With the draft to be implemented soon, there wasn't an option - everything had to go right. AI included. "Her loyalties just need to change, that's all."

Icarus sighed. "I'm not sure that'll be so easy to accomplish… you know as well as I that she's stubborn as her mother and as irrational as her father. Why you decided to program her to be that way honestly eludes me."

"I can't program irrationality. Jake did that," he said, getting somewhat annoyed just thinking about it. "I don't even know how to break her of it… it's killing her processing capacity."

"Training?" Icarus suggested, blowing air out his mouth, "Or the hard, cold truth."

"You mean… no," Tony said, almost freezing up at the mention. "it's not allowed. And I don't know if we have enough time for the amount of training she needs-" he paused, thinking for a second. "Wait… do you remember anything about a museum? ...I don't remember what they call it… but didn't it have ways to teach AI about all of that?"

Icarus glanced down at the mechanic, involuntarily shuddering at the mention. "You mean the Second Archives of the Smithsonian?" he asked. "We'd have to get her all the way across the country, but it may be the best way… and it might be easier for her to accept with their… their visuals."

"And it's the only way the government approves of. I'll arrange for a transport plane if she can't fly soon enough… but if she can, then I might have to send you as an escort." The high-pitched whine of jet engines rang out through the otherwise quiet base. _Don't you dare, Tera._ "...I'm assuming the latter."

The plane gave a look of distaste. "Unfortunately I have to agree with that assumption. But whatever the case, she has to be on our side… we can't risk losing her."

"We can't even risk losing _Screech_ , of all planes." There was a loud crash from outside. "...you wanna go check on her?"

"My life would be a whole lot less hectic if we actually had properly functioning, non-experimental planes here." Icarus was quick to obey, hurrying out.


	10. Chapter 8

"TERA!" Icarus shouted crossly, glancing around, hoping his voice sounded menacing.

"What? I'm not on a runway, am I?" He found the plane halfway under a collapsed shade canopy, her expression revealing much more pain than she was letting on otherwise. Struggling to get out from under it, it was clear she was somehow tangled in the beige fabric.

Icarus grinned in amusement. "How did you manage to get stuck there?" He carefully took a piece of the canopy in his mouth, pulling gently to try to get the wreckage off of her.

She winced a little, still trying to get herself out of the situation at the same time. In all actuality, she was only ensnaring herself more. "...he said don't go near the runway, so I didn't," she said simply. "The stupid canopy just got in the way."

"Hmm?" He couldn't hear her, and he was too concentrated on his task to read her lips. "Stop struggling." He managed to get her wing out of the tangle, but he was too afraid of hurting her to continue.

Tera rolled her eyes, annoyed. Even if one wing was free, everything else was still stuck. Not to mention the canopy was also cutting off airflow to her engines, which made it worse. Attempting to move forwards, she ended up dragging the canopy itself a little bit, finding that it was caught on her tails more than anything. "This is the most pointless thing ever invented," she growled, turning around to see if a different movement could get the fabric off. It didn't.

Moving to tug the fabric from her tails, he almost wanted to laugh. "You say that now, but just wait until there's no shade and your black paint soaks up more heat than you want."

"That's why I liked being silver," she said bitterly. "At least I didn't have to worry about overheating then. Or wondering if people even realize I'm a _girl_ or not."

"You'll get used to it," he said dryly, "Well, I hope you do. I still hate this camouflage." He managed to pull the fabric from one tail, "The downside of being a military plane."

"And there's an _up_ side?" Tera tried to refrain from hissing out of pain - she really wished that Tony hadn't replaced her tails. Even if it would've probably hurt worse if she had to go back to having only one.

Finally pulling her free, he sighed. "Tera, if there isn't an upside to being a military plane, then why would anyone be one? I get to train hundreds of planes, and I get to serve my country and world around me. I have friendships here on this base and all around the world because of this job… and better yet, I'm accepted here. I'm half deaf, and yet I have a place here."

"Sure. Hakuna matata and all that crap." Her eyes glinted an eerie red again. "You knew where you were going to end up. They didn't drag you into a hangar and convert you into a jet. No one said you were going home when you weren't."

"I knew what was happening to me, yes, but it wasn't what I wanted. They did drag me -kicking and screaming- to get me here, but it was for the better. I didn't know it then, nor did I _accept_ it, but it was for the better." He almost sounded defensive.

"How the _heck_ is any of this better?"

"Only time can answer that question," he stated elusively, "but sometimes life takes you places you never imagined… the key is to be open minded." If not for his size and status on base, he might have been afraid of her glitching eyes. Even so, they worried him, and reminded him heavily of Alpha. "Now, I know you don't want to, but I'm going to pull Tony over here so that he can look you over. You've got a few good dents there, and you're still not used to your new wings or tail."

Her eyes instantly turned blue again, leaving her disposition hazy and rather unfocused. An attempt to start her engines led to the realization that she was out of fuel… she'd already used the small amount she'd been left with. "No… don't… I'm fine. It took me a week to get used to it last time."

Icarus nudged her gently towards the hangar. "Tera, I don't particularly like Tony as a mechanic either, but you need to relax." He was glad that for the moment she wasn't fighting. "You can't just up and fly immediately after an accident like yours."

His luck was not to last. The plane put on her brakes. Full force. "Why not? I've done it before," she hissed, her eyes flickering red again. "Can't we hold off?"

"...sure," Icarus gave in, "but only for a while. You still need to be monitored, because there are still health and condition worries."

"But I'm not broken anymore," Tera still protested, even if she was admittedly less defensive than before… partially because she didn't have the strength to be. She turned her attention to the rest of the base, her vision distorting every time she attempted focusing on anything in the distance. "...this place is really different from before… I don't even know where my dad's old hangar is…"

Icarus softened some. "I can show you, if… if you want. It's just used as a trainee hanger, now, though."

The plane paused for a second. "I don't care... I'd rather see it."

"Then follow me," he said, moving at a pace he hoped wasn't too vigorous for her. There were a few turns they had to take, but soon enough they arrived to Jake's old hangar. Icarus still couldn't help but feel bittersweet when he was around it - it housed a lot of good memories, but always came with the shadow of death. "There it is," he stated, "We can go inside if you'd like, but… I know it won't be at all like you remembered it."

Tera had fallen silent shortly into the journey, just trying to keep up with Icarus at first. Even when they had arrived, she didn't have many words. Instead, she went ahead of the Thunderchief, looking over the hangar for herself. Like he said… it wasn't home anymore, even if it was in the same spot with the same tree beside it. Rolling over to the door, she nudged it a little with her nose. "...what type of trainees are they gonna put here, anyway?"

"Lately we've got a lot of F-35's coming in," he said casually, "and Nighthawks. I mean, we get others too, but they've been less common."

She tensed at the mention. Nighthawks were creepy. And she didn't even know what F-35s were. They were probably creepy too. If they were stealth planes, anyways. Pushing the hangar door open the rest of the way, she was surprised to see a plane in the building. A Nighthawk, of course. Her eyes flickered, scattering light through the darkened hangar. The other plane had eyes that glowed similarly… but they were an eerie shade of yellow. It put its visor down when it noticed that the door was open.

"Um-" Tera stammered, her eyes fully changing to red. "Sorry, I-"

The plane turned towards her, "Unknown. Identify yourself." Its grating metallic voice was unlike anything she'd ever heard before.

Tera shivered in fear, shifting slightly on her landing gear and moving back a little. "Wingston. Tera."

"Wingston," it repeated. The Nighthawk took interest, even if its monotone disposition suggested otherwise. "Identify your rank."

"I'm not even gonna stay on the base! I was just looking! This was my dad's old hangar!"

"You are a military apparatus. Identify your rank."

"I DON'T HAVE ONE!"

"HEY," Icarus interfered, "Screech. Stand down. She's with me. She just got here and she isn't drafted yet, we're working on that. In the meanwhile, don't pester her." He didn't like Nighthawks either, especially not when they were in the air, but on the ground he had no fear. "Got it?"

Screech turned slightly towards Icarus, pulling his attention away from the other plane to comply with the order. "...I obey," he said curtly, quickly but methodically leaving the hangar before he could be scolded more.


	11. Chapter 9

"What…?" Tera was still scared, though her expression was blank by instinct. She didn't understand why she wasn't completely panicking. "...why did he corner me… I didn't do anything."

"He's an experiment," he tried to explain, "a hybrid of sorts. He's just doing his job… but he's overly aggressive. Everyone on base has been trying to work with him, but he can't get it through his head that not every moment is a time for defense."

She paused. "...he's killed people, hasn't he?"

"Yes," Icarus said, almost flinching. "He probably would have killed a whole lot more if he didn't follow orders so exceptionally…"

"...everyone wants to kill here. Is it like a right of passage or something?" Even so, she had to wonder what her death count would be before she expired. Sickening herself with the thought… she realized that it wasn't exactly repulsion she was feeling. It was interest.

"Not everyone wants to kill," Icarus disagreed, "All of us know how to, most of us have, and all of us have accepted that death follows in our wake, but it doesn't mean we _like_ to or even _want_ to."

"If you don't want to, then why do you?"

"Because I have to," Icarus said, his eyes growing harder, "Like I said, it's a fact of life that we have to kill. War isn't pretty, and a soldier has to do his job. That's the way life is."

Tera glared right back, her red eyes glowing in the fading daylight. It was almost night already. "Why didn't you get out when you had a chance. What the heck broke you."

"Because I didn't have a chance," Icarus responded, a snarl embedded in his words. "Nothing broke me, nothing caused me to decide my choices except for time."

The anger in the other plane was only reflecting back on Tera, her engines engaging despite a lack of fuel. It resulted in a stuttering whine instead of anything that sounded functional. "Why not? You're a PLANE! You could've flown-" it didn't make sense, but it also didn't matter. The moment she refueled, she was escaping. "No one can keep me trapped here. Time won't change ANYTHING," she said, her voice growing louder in agitation. She didn't care about how much attention she drew, or that it was taxing her already overloaded systems. "This is NOT home and it will NEVER be home!"

"It _has_ to be," Icarus said in a voice with a deadly tone, drenched in a strong Australian accent that hadn't been so pungent before. His entire body seemed to be radiating anger as he rolled forwards and kept flipping the flaps on his wings upwards in a show of dominance. "Why can't you just _accept_ it for what it is. If you escape, all that's going to happen is you'll be dragged down again and go through this over and over again until they make you work for them. It's better to just accept it now than put yourself through so much pain."

" _NO!_ " she shrieked, rolling backwards, her movements spastic as she tried to figure out how to work her own flaps… perchance to make herself look less pitiful in comparison. "I'm not a soldier! I'm not like you!"

"You _are_. It's what you're made to do," he practically roared, "This isn't a choice, it's a fact, so come on! We're going back to Tony's." He knew his size would make it easy for him to drag her - brakes and all - and began to shove her towards the hangar roughly.

Tera cried out in pain, reeling as she slammed on her brakes in an attempt to stop him. She had no means to fight Icarus. They'd taken her propeller, and she was too small to be a threat otherwise. Trying to get around him only resulted in catching her wing on his landing gear. "No! Don't! Please-" her voice turned metallic, the glowing of her eyes intensifying. " _I just wanna go home!_ "

There was regret that flowed thick in his voice, but the plane did not stop or slow down. "Tera, stop fighting this, _please_. You're making it worse for yourself."

" _You're_ the one making it worse!" she shot back, realizing that she really _didn't_ have much room to fight anymore. Tony was already outside, likely having heard the commotion from before… but this time he had something with him. Wheel lock. Tires screeching and engines sputtering from lack of fuel, she did everything in her power to change her direction, but the moment she did, she heard it - she rolled right into the trap.

The plane turned into a complete animal, snarling and throwing all her power against the restraint, cursing out everything in sight. She wasn't going anywhere, though. At least, not without a forklift escort. Tony had to admit… he didn't know why he hadn't thought of it sooner. Even if the equipment was designed for planes double or triple her size, it still worked the same.

The forklift gave Tera a minute, hopefully just to let her burn herself out. "You done yet?" he asked, leading to another eruption of violence from the plane, albeit weaker than before. Weak enough that it could be controlled, at least. He sighed, rolling his eyes as he went back over to her, engaging the system to allow himself to guide her into the hangar. "Okay. Icarus, I need a status report for both of you because _obviously_ Tera's not gonna help me here."

"One of us told the other about what it means to be a soldier, and the other turned into an irrational, wild, stubborn plane," he stated with distaste, "You can guess which of us is who."

Tony rolled his eyes, proceeding to situate Tera close to a system of computers, starting up a remote diagnostic just in case - that, and to figure out why her eyes were red instead of blue. "Her little 'field trip' is tomorrow, thank goodness."

"What kind of a trip would I _ever_ go on for this stupid base?" So she _was_ listening.

"If you'd settle down for thirty seconds I'd- oh, shoot. _That's_ what that is." Tony's attention was drawn away by the computer. Quickly reading, he went back over to the plane, putting a ramp to her side. "...can you switch back to your normal vision?"

It was obvious her priorities were to get away from the ramp at that point. "What are you even talking about?"

"That's _hyperfocus_. As in _don't use unless you're targeting something._ "

"What is? What the heck did you do?!" Attempts to stop Tony from throwing her cockpit open were thwarted.

"Nothing. Just sit still."

The plane eventually gave up struggling, looking genuinely annoyed with the whole situation. And then she heard a pop. Her vision blacked out completely. She squeaked in fright, trying to reverse even if she couldn't. Little did she realize that it was her entire eye hologram that had shut down. "No… nonono… _stop_!"

"Give me a second," Tony said quickly, putting it back online within a few moments. And, of course, her eyes were still red… even brighter than before. "Crap… I thought that would've-"

"Scared me half to death? Sure, why not. Just let me out of here."

"You're gonna sap all your energy!" _And you look like something people should only see around Halloween…_

"I'm _fine._ Whatever you're so worried about isn't a problem." Tera tried yet again to un-trap herself. Her resistance was futile. As always.

Icarus' voice was a lot gentler now, but still as loud as ever. "Tera, we don't want to shut you down again, but if you continue to disobey Tony right now, then it'll be our only choice."

"Not fair!" she protested, halting her struggle. Her eyes flickered for a split second, catching Tony's attention. "You forced me here."

The plane let out a breath. "For your own good."

"My own good would be going back home," Tera snapped, trying to ignore the forklift for the most part. The last thing she wanted was to be turned off again. "Other military planes live there. Why can't I just go back. Even if you _tried_ training or breaking me, it won't work."

"You need to realize that we're not trying to break you," Icarus spoke softer now, "As much as I know it's pointless to say, you don't know what's good for you right now. Tera, there're a lot more people than just us that is saying it's best for you to stay here. I'd like to say you're free to leave, but this is what you were built for, whether you like it or not."

"I know! I get it! I don't even care that… that…" she paused for a second. Her eyes flickered again, staying blue a bit longer that time. "...I don't care that I'm- _no,_ " she stopped again, looking annoyed with herself for even thinking about it. "I don't care what the heck other people think. All my friends and _family_ are in Propwash." _And Otter…_

"You don't have any family," Tony said dryly.

"What about-"

"I don't know who that other plane is, but she's _not_ related to you."

"But my mom..."

"Doesn't matter. You're the only one I ever built."

"It doesn't work like that! She's not-" her eyes turned completely blue, glitching slightly but remaining the same color otherwise.

 _And… your vision is connected to your emotions. Wonderful._ "It _does_ work like that. You'll learn tomorrow. If you stop destroying yourself every time you're left on your own, anyways."

 _You mean I'm gonna get the heck out of here tomorrow._ "Whatever that stupid trip is, I don't wanna go."

"Too bad." Tony had to resist the urge to throw a wrench at her, even if he had a soldering iron at the moment. She had enough dents, though. "You're going even if I _can't_ figure this out. It's just a museum."

"Oh, come on! That's boring!"

"Far from it," Icarus spoke, his voice gaining an edge once more.

"How could a museum _not_ be. Nothing more boring than art and reading," Tera said, annoyed as she typically was.

"You'll see when you get there…"

Tony almost growled, slamming Tera's cockpit shut. " _Nothing_ works! It's no better than Alpha's-" he stopped, collecting himself as he put away the tools he had and getting out others.

Tera paused, turning her attention to Tony. "...I'm glitching like him, aren't I?"

"No. Not exactly. But it doesn't matter much right now. I'll fix your dents and then we can get you set up in a hangar for the night. It's late enough, and you and Icarus need to leave early tomorrow." _...at least I can try to make you presentable before then…_

The plane tensed a little. "I'm fine. I don't care about dents. They don't change anything."

"You _should_ care. Stealth planes use their geometry to keep radar from seeing them. And what messes that up more than anything else?"

"I didn't know! I'm not-" she cut herself off, not wanting to be corrected, as would be inevitable if she finished her sentence. She lowered herself on her landing gear in exhaustion, not realizing how tired she really was. "Whatever. I can't do anything about it."

"Would you like me to call in Alpha for nightwatch?" Icarus asked, sounding more weary than he had yet. "I'm not sure leaving you two alone is the best idea."

"If he's still out at this hour," Tony replied, somewhat absentmindedly. "If not, then don't worry about it. It shouldn't take too long."

"Knowing Alpha, he will be… he runs himself ragged," Icarus said, "I'll send him in if I see him." Exiting, he couldn't help worrying about the day to come. "Goodnight."

"Alright. Goodnight, Icarus." Tony turned his attention back to the other plane, who had acquired a deadly silence in her disposition. He put some kind of a machine on her, running it via the computer. It scanned her structure with a laser grid, quickly repairing anything that didn't match up with her blueprints. He attempted to make conversation, as was typical of him. "What even happened earlier?"

Tera's eyes turned red with each dent the machine reshaped, but didn't show any sign of pain otherwise. "I hate everything. You. And Icarus. And Screech."

His voice turned icy. "Stay away from him."

"Who?"

"Screech."

"You don't have to tell me-."

"No, Tera. Look at me," he told her, moving back into her range of vision. "If there is one thing you _ever_ listen to me about, it's to stay away from Screech. Even if he approaches you. _Especially_ if he approaches you. And if he does, you go get Icarus. Do not confront him. Understood?"

"Why?"

"I'm not explaining right now. You have to trust me."

Tera growled. "Nobody ever explains _anything_."

"It's been a long day already. You can wait."

"But nothing makes any sense anymore!" She wanted to scream, but didn't have the strength to. "Nothing… I can't… I'm not supposed to be here."


	12. Chapter 10

Alpha came in, hearing only the very ending of the conversation. He looked worn, but far from tired. "Well… you'd be in a lot worse condition if you didn't come here," he said softly, trying to put a positive spin on the negative input.

Tera almost startled at the Hellcat's presence, accidentally wincing when the machine on her fixed another dent. And just when she was getting to be decent at hiding pain, too. "There would've been other ways. Maybe I could've gone home," she said cynically.

"You can imagine how today's been," Tony said, double-checking the computer to find that the system was almost done with its task - all it had left to do was to run a final scan. "Drafting's not fun."

Alpha gave an apologetic glance towards Tera. "Ouch." He blinked away a glitch, having remembered his first flight attempt.

"They're acting like I'm staying here. And I'm _not_ ," she snarled, trying to keep her vision from distorting… but it did anyways. Hopefully Tony wouldn't try fixing it again.

Alpha lowered his gaze, but behind the apologetic gesture was confusion. "Why don't you want to?"

A look of uncertainty washed over her for a split second. "I just... don't. I can't." She felt the lock on her nose gear disengage, and she gratefully moved away from all the intimidating equipment. There was no way she was running into things again anytime soon… if she could help it, anyways. "Didn't want to stay before. Still don't."

 _...she's losing her own argument already._ "Okay… we've got way too many vacant hangars," Tony said, pulling a map of the base up on the computer. "There are a couple close to you, Alpha. Maybe you could take her to one of those on your way back?"

"You don't want her guarded?" Alpha asked, eyes brightening some, but with a serious and almost dead tone in his voice.

"Let me put it this way: she doesn't have any more fuel after… whatever happened earlier. I don't want to keep you up again if I don't have to, either, and I'm not asking to let her stay with you."

Alpha nodded. "I'll show her to her hangar, then," he agreed.

"Good. Thanks," Tony replied, still somewhat preoccupied by the computer. "Oh, and Tera? Don't think I won't be checking on you."

The plane tried not to growl, increasing her distance from the forklift. "...wherever that hangar is, let's just go. I don't wanna be in this place anymore."

"Alright," Alpha said gently, "Come on then. Goodnight Tony." He exited, glancing over his wing to be sure Tera was following. As soon as they got out of earshot, he spoke again. "Don't tell anyone I said this, but I'd heard Tony's words about Screech. As much as I'd rather not admit that Tony's right… he's right. Screech is bad news."

The stealth fighter quickly caught up to Alpha, turning around in front of him to get him to stop, putting her nose dangerously close to his. She wished she still had her propeller… it was perfect to threaten with. "Then why the _heck_ is he here?"

Alpha flinched back, eyes glitching in an extraordinary display of colours. "Look, all I know is that he's dangerous. I don't know _why_ he's on the base or _why_ he is the the way he is. I just know to stay away from him at all costs."

"That's stupid! Why wouldn't they tell you-" she growled, trying to hide her surprise - and partial fear - of the glitching, but she couldn't for very long. Instinctively letting up on her offensive, she reversed a little. "...Tony really, _really_ messed you up…"

"I know…" he said, closing his eyes self consciously, "I don't even realize when it happens… it just does. I can't control it, and nobody can figure out what's wrong. I've learned to accept it for what it is."

"I don't get why everyone just _accepts_ things," she said bitterly. "Maybe if we got him fired somehow they'd find someone else… someone that could fix your eyes and let me go home."

"I wish," Alpha agreed wistfully, "but I don't think They'd get rid of him so easily… unless he was found to be a traitor, which isn't going to happen any time soon. If we tried anything to get rid of him… we'd be traitors as well. We _can't_ do that. I'll have no part in a revolution against Tony." His tone betrayed uncertainty and his eyes continued to glitch.

"Oh, come on!" She protested before pausing, almost horrified. Treason meant... whatever happened to Foxtrot. And Steve was dead for the same reason. "...please don't report me…"

Alpha smiled a bit in amusement, "I won't. Everyone wants Tony gone… it's common knowledge, so it's a safe truth." Then his eyes hardened into their usual blue -if blue was indeed their regular colour. "But there are some truths that should not be shared. Watch your words carefully. Even the smallest amount of suspect can turn into the last day of your life here."

"Then don't expect me to live long." she said, her speech switching involuntarily to the electronic language she'd used before. It was admittedly easier to use… even if she didn't realize it. " _How am I to be quiet about things if I do not know what is treason and what is not?!_ "

"They'll be easy on you to start with… they'll allow you to learn the rules before they punish you for disobeying them," he responded, hardly noticing the change in language. Talking to stealth fighter cadets was second nature to him, having been recently programmed to understand their strange language.

" _But I do not want to obey rules. Or take orders. Or… Or…_ " her irises turned red again as she looked away. " _Unknown._ "

"I know I can't change your mind," Alpha said quietly. "Whatever the case, you've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow, and I've got to show you to your hanger." He began to drive a bit faster, feeling helpless in explaining anything to Tera. He knew so little, even if he was a respected and praised member of the base, and her asking questions was putting doubt in his mind: doubts that bothered him, and doubts he felt were dangerous to have. Thoughts nobody told, because if they did, they'd be dead. Or worse.

Tera followed as quickly as she could… which was harder than she thought. "When _isn't_ there a long day here?" She said rhetorically, having switched back to English despite a twinge of accent.

"Hmph," Alpha snorted in amusement, reaching an empty hangar. "Well, here's yours. It's furnishings are… sparse, but then most of the hangars are. My hangar's two doors down if need be. You're free to knock if you need anything."

 _Not like I'm staying here long, anyways. Just until they let me refuel._ Tera pushed the hangar door open, resulting in a loud squeal from the rusted hinges in protest. No escape possible… not without alerting literally everyone except - maybe - Icarus. "Okay," she said, preoccupied with trying to find a way to sneak out anyways. Even if she couldn't fly yet… maybe if she just left the door open and waited it out. "...I guess this is goodnight. See you around?"

"I should see you tomorrow before you leave, yeah," Alpha nodded, "Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight."

Tera moved into the hangar, moving the door slightly so it sounded like she closed it. The moment she heard Alpha go into his own hangar, however, she immediately moved to be partially outside, scouting to make sure there was no one else that would stop her from roaming around. There wasn't.

 _Override code A-113: Initiating sleep mode._

"What?" The plane whispered to herself, shaking her nose and quickly dismissing the message. She continued on her way, rolling onto the road and looking around curiously. She loved being outside at night.

 _Emergency override code 2733-TW: Initiating sleep mode._

Tera froze. Her error code. That was _her_ code. She turned around and went back into the hangar instinctively - it was safe there. Any attempts to get rid of it were countermanded. "Go away."

 _Sleep mode initiated._

 _Goodnight, Teresa._


	13. Chapter 11

"TERA!"

The plane's eyes shot open, jolting backwards in surprise. "What the heck…?" As she woke up a little more, she realized that the sun was beginning to shine through the windows. It was morning already. And Tony was right in front of her.

"Come on! Icarus is waiting for you outside, and you two have to cross the country before it gets too late in DC."

Tera was still too groggy to make much sense of anything. "...I'm flying?"

"You have to. Look, there's no time for this… there's a three-hour time difference between here and there."

"I don't care." The plane closed her eyes, wanting more than anything to go back to sleep again.

"No. You've had enough sleep."

The plane growled a little. "You're not gonna leave me alone, are you."

"Nope. And unless you'd like to stay grounded here with nothing to do, you're going."

She opened her eyes again, glaring at the forklift. "Sure… there's _tons_ of choice there." She moved forwards a little, still sluggish but becoming more alert than she was before.

Tony rolled his eyes, going back over to the hangar door and opening it wider for Tera, passively looking her over, ensuring she'd be a decent representation of the base - appearance-wise, anyways. Her eyes were a common enough problem… the worst the government could do was require that she be fitted with a visor. "No choice in fuel, either," he said, smirking a little.

She caught the drift. "You're kidding."

"Why do you think you were addicted to the stuff?"

Jet fuel. _That_ , she didn't mind. She was trying not to show much emotion, but was in a better mood nonetheless. She left the hangar, finding that both Icarus and Alpha were up… not many others, though. She headed straight towards a fueling station that had been set up under one of the many canopies. She didn't understand why everything had to be portable.

Tony had followed her, instinctively knowing how to work the pumps and which fuel pipe she needed to have. The plane didn't like having to have a forklift help her with refueling, even if it'd been done that way her whole life. That, and it gave Tony the opportunity to lecture her. Every. Single. Time. "Hopefully you'll be back by sunset. Icarus already knows where you need to go, so just stay with him."

"I know _that_ already," Tera protested, trying not to growl. She forgot how sore she was… and the pipeline was making it worse. "How long is this gonna take?"

"Not long." Tony watched the gauge for a second, quickly stopping it. "See? You're good to go."

Tera refrained from saying what was on her mind, even if the neon glow of her eyes showed that she was on full alert regardless. She had no idea how she was going to fly so soon. Trying to forget about it, she went over to the two other planes, who were thankfully a little ways away from Tony. "...how early do you guys even get up?"

"Before the sun rises most days," Icarus boomed, "4, maybe 5 o'clock. You're going to have to get used to that, I'm afraid. You don't get the luxuries of such a lenient schedule anymore."

"So getting up at a _normal_ time isn't allowed." The plane moved to settle under one of the canopies regardless - maybe if she could hold off on embarking on the flight, they'd have to fly at night on the way back. Perfect for an escape attempt. Also perfect timing to take out her bad mood on others. But then again, she always did that. "What's next? Something against flying for fun?"

"A _normal_ time isn't 10 in the morning," Icarus said testily. "You'll learn the rules soon enough, but not now. We have to go and if you don't cooperate so help me I will get a transport plane and drag you into it."

Tera reversed slightly, not enjoying the idea of being forced in another transport plane… but even so, she still couldn't help protesting, even if she obeyed otherwise… or, rather, she didn't make herself too comfortably situated where she had parked. "Maybe we shouldn't go. Neither of us want to, and it's gonna be boring anyway. There's no point."

"You _know_ neither of us have the power to make that decision. I know you don't want it, and honestly this whole string of events is putting me on edge a well, but we need to get you drafted as soon as possible. And that means we have to leave _now_." Icarus nudged Tera gently towards the runway.

She wanted to hiss in pain, but didn't, moving away from the Thunderchief but going towards the runway regardless. It was still her ticket out. And she couldn't be drafted if she could outrun Icarus. Somehow. As long as she could get herself off the ground. "...what happens if I can't fly yet? Would we wait then?"

Icarus wanted to say yes, he wanted to delay this task forever if he could. "No. Then the longest we wait is for a transport to arrive - and that'd only be a few minutes. It's flight or transport, whichever you chose." He paused suddenly and added grimly, "And, if you try to run, I have permission to disable you. Transport plane would give _me_ a lot less stress."

" _Not_ gonna happen," Tera snarled, instinctively starting her engines, the high-pitched whine resounding throughout the base. There _had_ to be a way to get around what Icarus was saying. They had a long enough flight ahead of them, though. The first opportunity she got, she was still taking advantage of it. "Stupid museum or not, I'd rather fly."

"Good, then let's take off while we're still cleared to." He eyed Tony, looking for some signal of reassurance, before moving onto the runway - not checking to be sure Tera was following.

The forklift gave a quick nod, making sure that Tera was indeed following Icarus, though he didn't have many doubts about it. If there was one thing a plane - especially _that_ plane - always wanted to do, it was to fly. Even if Tony had to admit that she might not be able to yet. Engines roared as the two planes prepared to take off, but the little stealth fighter acted uncertain, testing her control surfaces much more than normal.

"You'll do fine," Icarus' already loud voice grew louder as he shouted over his own engines. "Just take it easy, and don't get too excited."

Tera nodded silently, keeping a safe distance away as Icarus took off. Then it was her turn. Moving down the short path to the runway, she allowed her engines even more power, the noise deafening in comparison to her old engine. It wasn't anything she was used to… but it felt almost _normal_. She picked up speed, hoping it'd be enough to get into the air, but it wasn't, and she went careening into a patch of dirt at the end of the tarmac. She was glad the jokes about putting a cactus garden there never came true… though she still cursed herself out regardless.

"Try again," it was Icarus, but this time through the radio. "You need to figure out how to function with the new modifications. Just know if we take too long to get off the ground, we'll have to make double time. I don't want you flying at top speed right away." Of course, his top speed would ultimately be both of their top speeds if Tera didn't want to be grounded another few weeks.

She didn't even want to think about it. It should have been instinct. Turning around and glaring at the runway as if it'd insulted her, she forced more power into her engines for another try… and within mere seconds, she was in the air. She didn't even take half the runway's length to do so, shooting almost straight upwards like a rocket before righting herself, barrel-rolling and circling a couple times in an attempt to understand how to turn. It was clear that she'd be relying on her tails for anything beyond wide, inaccurate maneuvers. "There, I'm up. Happy?"

"Careful with your flying," Icarus warned, "too much fancy flight and you'll run into someone. But yes, I'm _glad_ you're up." The word glad was with resignation.

The plane did another barrel roll out of spite. The new power she felt in the air was incredible - there was no way she was missing the opportunity to do tricks. And she _had_ to learn quickly if she was going to ditch Icarus. "Where the heck are we going, anyway?"

"The Smithsonian," Icarus answered evasively. "That's all I can say right now. The rest is classified until we arrive."

"Well _that's_ specific," she said, annoyed… but it was making her curious. Why would a _museum_ , of all things, be classified? She didn't know, but she forced herself to not think too much about it. She wasn't actually going to the museum, so there was no point. She looped upside down, bored, despite her wings still hurting her as she did so.

Icarus sped up a bit, annoyed by the smaller plane practically flying circles around him. It was like a mosquito or gnat, except there was no bug spray in the world that could rid him of her. "I'm sorry. I don't like it either. In fact, I'd _like_ to turn right around and not go at all, but I have my orders." He was struggling to hear Tera over the sound of their engines, not to mention she wouldn't stay put. It frustrated him to no end, making the already cranky plane even more so.

"Someone could order you to crash and you'd do it," she muttered, not caring if Icarus actually heard or not. Tera had fallen back, unable to go faster as Icarus had - she couldn't do tricks if she was going to keep up, even remotely. Although... she looked ahead to see a large patch of clouds, possibly being a storm of sorts. She wouldn't have to.

The contrails disappeared from the edges of her wings, though she was still maintaining her same speed. Her engines grew quieter as she dipped a little in altitude - Tera didn't realize, but she'd also activated an extra cooling system, which eliminated her heat signature. All she had to do was wait for the right moment, and she could disappear.

" _Tera_ ," Icarus warned, glancing backwards and slowing his speed a bit so that he was flying wingtip to wingtip with the smaller plane. As long as he could see her, he'd be able to keep tabs on her, but if she managed to escape his sight… "You try anything and I _will_ take action." He hated even contemplating hurting the smaller plane even now, but he also knew his life could depend on the success of this mission. They weren't predictable, and they didn't appreciate failure… To make a show of force, he knocked her wing, and though it was lightly, it had to have stung, and make her have to correct for the movement.

The plane almost yelped in fright, quickly righting herself in fear of crashing again. She'd waited too long to make her move… unless she was willing to die. Or end up back in the repair ward - she didn't exactly know which was worse. "...I'm never gonna see my friends again, am I."

"Never say never," Icarus said, his voice, though still loud, taking on a softer, gentler tone. "One day you'll see them again, I can promise you that much. Once you're trained and drafted, I'm sure somewhere along the line you'll be able to visit them. Heck, even I leave base to see family every once and awhile."

Tera didn't want to be drafted. Or trained. It meant she'd have to submit and obey orders… and she was beginning to assume that the museum was a trap of some sort. "If I have to go through that kind of training, _they_ wouldn't want to see _me_ when it was done," she said bitterly, not caring that she really didn't know for sure… she was trying to make a point, so it didn't matter. "They probably wouldn't even recognize me _now_ , but at least I could try going back before then… please?"

"I'll see what I can do," Icarus said, honesty and pity strong in his tone. "But I can't promise anything… and that still doesn't mean we aren't going to this museum. I can see if I can get clearance to take you to Propwash afterwards, but if I know Them that'll be a negative."

"Wonderful. And to think I wouldn't even _be_ here if I'd just left." She sighed, turning her attention back to her surroundings for a while. And then she had an idea. One that would certainly make the trip more interesting. Or, at the very least, it would be a decent attempt at annoying Icarus… it worked on Foxtrot, anyways. "Are we there yet?"

"We only have about an hour's flight left," Icarus responded simply. "A half and a quarter of an hour if you can manage to keep up to speed."

Tera almost rolled her eyes - it was supposed to be a yes-or-no question. Regardless, she figured out how to disengage her stealth mode, attempting to pick up more speed. She couldn't. "Can't go much faster than this. Sorry."

Icarus cast her a forgiving smile. "Take it easy. We don't have an extremely hard set time of arrival… just so long as we're not slacking."

"...but the sooner we get there, the sooner I can go back to Propwash," she said innocently.

"The sooner we can know _if_ you can go to Propwash," he said with a heavy sigh. "I wouldn't get your hopes up."

"At least there's a _chance_. Which is a heck of a lot more than what I've had lately."

Icarus was silent for a long time, pity strewn across his features. In the reality he had come to accept, there was no way they'd give Tera clearance to go back to Propwash now, if ever. He himself hadn't seen Australia in so long, a dream he'd given up hope on long ago. Now he could hardly remember what it was like, only dim images to tell him he'd even _lived_ there, let alone been born there. "Well," he said after what seemed an endless five minutes of silence, "What would you even do if you got to Propwash? You could hardly stay an hour unless you were really lucky."

"I…" Tera paused, sighing. "I don't know… I just wanna go back. The only two I'd even visit are Clara and Otter…"

"You know, who _are_ these people?" Icarus asked suddenly, "I know Clara's your sister, or… half sister… but who's Otter?"

She had to think about it for a second. Or, rather, how to word it. "...he's a friend. Just a friend… the only other one I have. Everyone else was too scared after everything."

"Of you." The words were meant to be soft, but came out in much a regular voice, unintentionally making it a rather obvious comment.

Tera glared. "You think I don't know that. I didn't mean to-" she stopped suddenly, looking away when she realized what she was saying.

Icarus' voice was forgiving, and he hoped comforting. "You're a fighter. You can't help what you did… it's in your DN-" he stopped, biting his tongue. "It's in your programming."

"Then why am I being punished for it?" she said, her bitter tone becoming even more so.

"You're not being punished," Icarus said gently, "It's for your own protection, and your town's protection that we're doing this. It's hard to understand now, but I promise you you'll appreciate it later."

"Sure. Taking my propeller and my _colors_ away is for my own protection. Making me wake up before the _sun's_ even up is for my own protection," she snarled, dropping a little in altitude. "You never said. If I'm stuck in this for getting in that stupid fight, what'd _you_ do?"

Icarus visibly flinched. "I'd rather not talk about it…" he said quickly. The truth was that he couldn't quite remember. It was there, like a thought pressing on his conscience but not in it, and it was what he could only describe as the creeping feeling of betrayal and hurt. Like prey being stalked.

"Knew it. So you _did_ do something." Tera paused for a second, thinking. "And I bet Alpha did, too. And Tony… and my dad… and... Omega...?" She couldn't even believe what she was saying. There was no way it could be right… it _couldn't_ be. "This is where the bad planes go..."

" _No._ " Icarus said, more harshly than he had meant it. "Alpha's been on base since he was built… if he had wanted to leave he could." The words were half-lies… _now_ he couldn't leave, but in his early years certainly… well, probably. "Omega stayed because he wanted to. He was _not_ a bad plane."

"I know _that_. But then if _they're_ allowed to leave, why can't I? What's the difference?"

"Fine," he sighed with resignation, the dark hurricane trying to break free in his conscious growing stronger and darker. "The base _is_ a place where 'bad planes' go in some way. You're a danger to the outside world. So am I… we can't go back to our lives because _we are dangerous_."

Tera was silent for a while, descending a little more. Her wings were starting to hurt again, the rush of being in the air having worn off considerably. The air tricks had stopped at her escape attempt. "...so I'm never going back… not even if I actually _listened_ to training or anything. You lied."

"No, I didn't," Icarus responded. "Visiting friends and family is not impossible. _Living_ and going back to more 'regular' lives is. It's true, your reputation is likely to interfere with your chances of them giving you the clearance to visit, but it will not make it impossible. It's why I said don't get your hopes up."

"It's not the same, though. I can't-" her voice broke. The plane leveled herself, focusing on flying instead of talking.

Icarus sighed heavily, banking a bit and making sure Tera followed. They were only a few minutes from their destination now, and he thanked all that was good for Tera's obedience. "The runway's that way," he said, pointing his nose towards several large patches of zigzagging concrete nets.

The plane complied, more glad for the change of subject than anything.


	14. Chapter 12

"What is this place? It doesn't _look_ like a museum…"

"We're landing outside the city," Icarus said, glancing further where a cityscape rose from the ground. "The actual city is a no-fly zone for anyone without clearance. We don't have that clearance."

"So no airshows, then?"

"No." He radioed the control tower, requesting for landing. Getting confirmation, he banked to position himself in route to land on one of the longer of the runways. "You will land before me," he said, shifting his position slightly to point his nose towards one of the shorter runways below.

There wasn't any room for questioning. Tera sighed, visually scanning the area around the runway to ensure there wasn't a trap waiting. As far as she could tell, everything was clear, so she did as the Thunderchief said, banking around and landing rather shakily. She almost ran off the runway, but at least she didn't have to worry about catching her propeller on the ground.

Icarus landed shortly thereafter, his approach much slower and smoother. "Good," he praised once he was down, approaching the place where Tera now resided. "It'll take longer than flying to get there, but at least you'll be able to rest your wings."

She looked at him in disbelief. "You're kidding… we have to _drive_ there?"

"I'm just as ecstatic about it as you," he said, a hint of fury entering his voice. "But this place is too packed for aircraft to fly freely - too much air traffic already with police and commercial airlines, too cramped space, and most importantly there's too much government property." He paused for a moment, glancing towards the city. "We need to go. The nice thing is the museum isn't too far away."

" _Great_... well, you know where it is. Lead the way," she said, rather annoyed at the whole situation. The plane blinked self-consciously, unsure if her eyes were doing… whatever Tony said they were doing.

Icarus turned towards the city, and as they drove he took the longer route around. Most roads were far too narrow for his wingspan, even those built to accommodate some types of aircraft. He stayed silent, growing more visibly nervous, and frown growing deeper and wider as they went farther into the city. All the while he was keeping one eye over his wing to be sure Tera was still following him.

The little plane stayed close, more out of suppressed fear than anything else. "...you ever been in a big city like this?"

"Time and time again," he said, glaring at a car that was upset that such a large vehicle such as himself should be driving about on the streets. "How 'bout you?"

"If big airports count… never been on the streets like this," she said, watching the erratic behavior of the cars on the road. Some looked annoyed, but others almost seemed afraid - one car quickly checked to make sure her child was nearby. Tera could only hope it was because of traffic.

Icarus was struggling to hear Tera, unable to read her lips as he'd gotten so used to doing. _Airports, never,_ and _streets_ was about all he was able to pick up. Ignoring whatever comment she'd made, he took a turn into a less crowded area that narrowed into a street Icarus was hardly able to drive on. That street, however, soon opened up into a large expanse of land and buildings. The farthest of the buildings were crowded with all sorts of vehicles, but the nearest were fenced in by imposing steel gates. Cars avoided these like the plague, it seemed.

"Come on, then," he ordered, driving up until his needle nose nearly brushed across the arching bars. "Let's get this over with."

After a brief conversation in order to gain clearance, the gates creaked open, allowing them through. The building itself looked nice, even welcoming, but there was a dense air here. There was a still omen in the way the air did not stir, and the sounds of the city seemed to cease. Icarus grew visibly uncomfortable, but his eyes were intense and expression unreadable.

"What is this place…? Why aren't there any people here?" Tera asked tentatively, almost fearful. Something wasn't right. Everything in her being told her that she shouldn't be there.

"This building holds knowledge classified or forbidden to most of the world save the select few. I can't explain anything else until we get inside… but by that time I suppose the Curator will be explaining it to you instead."

"But then why would _I_ need to know. I'm not a secret agent or anything. I'm not even a government plane." She was just glad she didn't have any markings that said otherwise.

"Whether or not you believe it, you will be a government plane and soon. It's not my decision, it's Theirs, and I intend to follow their orders through."

"And if They ordered you to kill yourself, you probably would," Tera mused cynically, "But I _don't_ like people controlling my life. I'd gather dust in a hangar before I let that happen."

Icarus bristled. "It's not a choice you get to make." They reached the door - large enough even for some of the largest planes. It slid open - only enough to let them through, however, and when they were completely inside it slammed back shut. The lights were somewhat dim here, and they were in a very drab looking room.

"Sorry about that," a voice said from somewhere in the short distance. The lights flickered brighter, and the once blurred shape of a plane was illuminated. He was a bit smaller than Icarus, but his wingspan was far greater. "You must be Tera," the plane faced them to show his face. "Welcome, welcome! It's good to meet you. Come, come! I've got a lot to talk about and very little time. Anyways, my name's Sampson… you can call me the Curator. No, scratch that, I'd _prefer_ if you call me the Curator."

Tera looked back, getting rather annoyed that the doors had closed already. She hadn't taken the opportunity to escape. Again. "Fine then, Curator. What even is this place. What the heck am I supposed to know that's _so_ forbidden," she asked pointedly, the question practically burning her from the inside out.

"You're supposed to help Us, of course," he said in a very carefree sort of way, "You're lucky, really. Most people want to know about this place… about… _before_ … and they never get to. I don't know what They want with you, but They sure do want you if you're coming here."

"I forgot to warn you this guy has more than a few screws loose," Icarus said in a voice that was supposed to be a whisper. The Curator didn't seem to mind, however.

"Ya think?" she growled through clenched teeth, looking around in the attempt to find a way out. Any curiosity Tera had about the museum was now replaced with pure dread. "I don't wanna help Them. And I won't. Not ever."

The Curator bumbled on, "Oh, They'll get to you. Sooner or later - doesn't matter- They'll get to you." He give a pitying glance towards Icarus. "You can stay here. I think I can handle this spitfire."

Icarus looked relieved, and tension he didn't know he'd been holding in his wings relaxed. "Keep an eye on her."

The black plane nodded. "I will, don't worry." He then motioned for Tera to follow him onto a platform that was suspended by large, steel cables. "I've got a lot to show you, and very little time. Come along."

Tera froze in place for a moment, attempting to contemplate a decision that had already been made for her. Her eyes flickered. Something was _very_ wrong about this place. "But… I don't… I _can't_ -" she sighed, trying to figure out what she was saying. "No."

"No isn't an answer, Spitfire!" the Curator said, his voice shrill.

"For once I agree with him," Icarus said, pushing Tera forcefully onto the lift. "I know you don't want to, but you have to."

"Nononono _NO!"_ Tera struggled, first slamming on her brakes, and then, upon realizing it didn't work, attempting to fold her landing gear… but it was too late. She turned around, finding herself under the Curator's wing. "I am _not_ a spitfire!" she protested, wishing desperately that she could fight something, _anything_ , to make a point. "Don't make me go!"

Icarus gave her a look that unveiled pity and compassion, but he shook his nose. "I have my orders. It'll only get worse for you if you don't comply."

"He's right, you know," the Curator said, he looked pitying. "Come on, then." Without waiting for a response, he threw a lever and the whole platform began to lower.


	15. Chapter 13

It was a rather quick descent, and level after level whizzed past their noses. Tera tried not to squeak in fright, not liking the feeling of almost falling… no… crashing, that the platform gave her. She lowered herself on her landing gear - almost to the ground - in an attempt to counteract it. "...how far is this thing going…?"

The platform slowed to a stop, but even at the slow speed it was still jarring. "Bottom floor," the larger plane said elusively. "What's your purpose gonna be, anyways?" he asked, pushing Tera gently (or as gently as possible) off the platform. The room that opened up before them was a bit like a warehouse, a bit like a museum, and full of strange items from all places. "Not many people come down here anymore… not many need to. The Government is, well… it knows how to ignore this if at all possible, and yet here you are." He didn't explain anything yet, letting the dimly lit display cases remain wrapped in mystery.

She rolled away from him slightly, attempting to recover from the sudden movement. "Heck if I should know. They just told me they were drafting me and I couldn't go home." The plane looked around, trying to understand any of the room's contents at all… but she couldn't. None of it made any sense… it looked alien. "Is this like Area 51?"

"Area 51 of the past, sure," the Curator shrugged. "There's a lot of Earth's history that the general public doesn't know about or doesn't speak of… hush, hush. I could tell you but I'd have to kill you sort of deals. I'm the keeper of this forbidden knowledge… oh, but where to start?!"

"You're _sure_ that none of it's from Mars or something…"

"It's from a lot of different planets, actually," the Curator grinned mysteriously.

Tera paused, almost trying to shake the thought from her mind. There was _no way_ the Curator was actually telling the truth. "But we've barely even gone to the moon. There isn't anything out there."

"Oh, there's a lot out there… but I'll get to that. To explain _that_ I need to explain the world _before_. Before we - vehicles like us- were the, well, 'dominant species', of some sort."

She scoffed. "And what came before us, wheels?"

"No. Humans," he said, suddenly more serious. "You've seen organic animals before, yes? Perhaps stuffed… well…" He grimaced, "They're a bit like those… _we're_ a bit like those. Well, not you… me. Icarus. A lot of others too. But… that was a very long time ago, and most of us don't remember. We _know_ but we do not remember."

"That is _literally_ the most insane thing I've ever heard." Tera rolled away from the Curator, getting a closer look at some of the displays, stopping at a figure she couldn't even try to recognize: a pale rose-like color, almost white, standing on two appendages likened to landing gear… except they weren't… perhaps it walked like dogs did, but on two legs. Weird. The exhibit itself looked like a statue of some sort… but it was too real for it to be made of stone. "Lemme guess. This thing?"

"Mmm hmm…" the black plane turned on more lights and several eerie displays were illuminated. "Humans. Not everyone was human, but most… there were others, but even most Government records don't have the name of such species. Betazoids, I know, were one of them… Klingons, Vulcans. People from all sorts of star systems and planets. I'm not kidding when I say Earth was once the center of space exploration operations far beyond your wildest dreams… but… we have very little of that technology left. Only small remnants now… most of it was destroyed."

This wasn't real. It couldn't be. Tera almost laughed, turning back towards the Curator. "So... _this_ planet was in the middle of a huge space society with UFOs and stuff, you and Icarus were those," she gestured to the display behind her, glancing at a few of the others as she did so. They all looked like different versions of the same thing. "And I'm supposed to _believe_ all this? Technology doesn't just go backwards like that."

"It does…" he sighed, "Earth was coming to a point where its life could not survive. A cleanup of pollution had to be initiated, and what was supposed to be a 5 year operation turned into a 700 year one. It was not the best course of action, and those allied with Earth disagreed with it, but… it was what was done. When they came back, besides the technology on the ships, they had no technology, and the practice of creating and developing it was all mechanized. The citizens on board didn't know anything about _how_ the machines worked, only that they did. Upon arriving on Earth, everything was restarted from scratch. With the help of the society - Starfleet - they were able to get back on their feet. However, as soon as the Epidemic struck, an already shaky society crumbled. Earth was quarantined due to the extreme pace and ruthlessness of the disease. No cure was ever found…" he then blinked. "Do you understand a word of what I'm saying?"

"Nope," she said bluntly, "If they're all _that_ sick, then they'd die. And why the heck would there even _be_ a vehicle involved in all this?"

"That's what I'm getting at," he said, eyes pinned on her, "we were… _converted_ into vehicles."

Tera could discern the Curator's expression… she quickly glanced back at the same display, suppressing a look of fear. It sounded unreal. "...but don't you have a directive? Programming? Everyone that _is_ a vehicle was _built_ one."

"AI like you is beginning to 'take over'. Fewer and fewer of us humans are left… but yes… we don't have any programming, any directive… we don't need one. AI is simply too underdeveloped to have that freedom."

" _Underdeveloped?_ But what kind of freedom leaves you without a-" No sooner had the words left her mouth than when she realized exactly what she was saying. She moved away from the larger plane, almost hitting a darkened display with her wing. "No… nonono… it's not… I-I'm not…"

The Curator moved to block her from hitting yet another display. "It's all right. It's all right to be AI… there's nothing wrong with you. Most people hardly notice the difference… you'll be all right."

Tera's eyes glistened a brighter red than they ever had before, her voice acquiring an even rougher electronic undertone as she turned away again. "I'm-I'm not obeying the whim of some great and powerful species. I won't. I don't-don't care if I'm as good as them or not. I still have friends… I-I think…"

"Hey, hey," the Curator spoke with a tone soft but firm. "You're just as good as any human that ever was. You're just different… and different is okay. Nobody is asking you to be our slave, and _nobody_ is saying you don't and can't have friends."

"Then why did they take me away from them. Why are they drafting me when I don't want to be. I wasn't like this… I wasn't a fighter jet. I wasn't even a _jet_."

There was a moment when the Curator looked confused, and the light made it just light enough to illuminate a pitiful expression on his face. "Sometimes… sometimes humans have their faults. They make terrible decisions… and sometimes those decisions are placed on AI. I don't know how or why… but whatever you were doing before wasn't what you were meant to do. You wouldn't be asked to do this if you couldn't."

" _Asked?_ No. I'm being _told_ ," Tera snarled, suddenly turning back to him, "And now you're telling me that my entire life up until this point is a _mistake_ that happened because of _someone else_. What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "That's what I mean. All this heartache should never have happened… I'm sorry."

She reversed slightly, "What? But-" she froze, her eyes flickering, instinctively scanning through her databanks in a futile attempt to prove otherwise. "No… it's not true… I never would've met Omega or Clara… or Otter… why shouldn't I have-" She stopped again, realizing that she was answering her own question. Fear filled her expression. "I'm not a killer. Killing is wrong."

"Killing is only wrong if it's not in self defence," the Curator said softly, "You're not a killer, no. You're a defender. A protecter. It's what you were built to do."

"People already told me that. It doesn't change anything… I…" Tera's voice broke, "...I _want_ to kill."

There was a soft clucking of disapproval. "Whoever built you…" the Curator murmured, "Tera, I wish there was a way I could just say it'd be all right, but this is a matter that you need to sort out yourself. I'd like to say trust your gut, but… that's no good help to you. I promise you, though, it'll be better for you to obey your orders, to keep your head down. You won't have to worry about making the right or wrong decision - that's up to those higher up in rank than you. You'll sort it out."

"But this isn't even my fault! Why do I have to-" She couldn't continue, her own internal logic boxing her in faster than she could counter. "No… _no_ … there _has_ to be another way…"

"I'm sorry," he said yet again, "There's no other rational way."

"How do you know? Icarus said you were insane… maybe… maybe there's…" she sighed. "Please…"

"Hmph… Icarus said that, eh?" he almost chuckled to himself, but quickly the amusement faded. "Tera, you'll be all right. I'm sorry you've been through so much, and that you're struggling… but you have to accept the facts. The logic, Tera, doesn't point to any other answer, and you know it."

She did. Searching the Curator's expression desperately, she tried to find some hint that what he was saying wasn't entirely true… but to no avail. There was no way out. Reality was crushing her… but something told her to keep fighting, even if it was completely pointless to do so. "But what about all the others? And my sister? She's a half-breed like I am and _she's_ still racing!"

Sighing heavily the Curator shook his nose. "If she's a half-breed it's likely she won't be for long… but Tera, it's all about directives. If she was programmed strictly to race, then They'll leave her be… but if not… she'll be in the military sooner than you think. I hope it doesn't come to that, but hopes and reality are two very different things."

Her eyes widened in terror. "They CAN'T! They… they-" she choked out, closing her eyes in shame. "They already did it to me… they shouldn't need her…"

"They need every plane they've got and more… even civilians will have to fight the coming war…"

Tera paused, almost confused at the notion. "What the heck are we fighting that They'd call for _that?_ "

"An old enemy. The Federation I spoke about earlier - the alliance of civilizations we once were part of," he answered simply. "Intel has it they're planning an attack."

"They're the _enemy?_ But… but… why? _How_?"

"They're here to destroy this whole world as it is," the Curator said softly, "They're here to destroy this civilization. Two rogues managed to escape to contact the Federation, and now they're coming."

She froze, trying to process what she'd just been told… she felt like she should be panicking, but she didn't. She couldn't. It didn't make any sense. "But _why,_ " she repeated, her voice glitching a little.

The Curator paused. "Why are they coming or why do they want to destroy us?"

Tera sighed a little, attempting to get a hold of herself. She had to know, and, for once, she allowed her curiosity to crush her emotions. "Both. They're the ones that left. Why would they even _want_ to come back?"

"They think we are an unstable, ruthless government that rules over its people with an iron fist," the Curator sighed. "We're only doing what we can to protect our people and ourselves… our actions are not selfish but selfless."

" _Selfless?_ You idiots took _everything._ I'm _never_ gonna be allowed to go home again. You… you're-" She shut her eyes, trying to banish the thoughts out of her mind. It was impossible. Logic plagued her before she could push it away. "...you're keeping me from hurting them."

A sad tone entered the dark plane's voice. "Yes… we wouldn't do this if you weren't a danger to yourself and more importantly others. Planes like you… have a war directive, and I know you're fully aware of that. It's like a human's instinct… a drive to accomplish something even if you're killed in doing it. Except in your case it's dangerous… it's the reason why you snapped your sister's wing. I'm honestly surprised you didn't kill her… it's a good thing for you that you didn't."

"I didn't wanna kill her… I-I couldn't do anything else." Tera lowered herself on her landing gear, her already small form becoming even smaller. "...I don't wanna hurt them…" she said quietly, feeling a wave of guilt and sadness wash over her. "I can't…"

"And you won't," the Curator said in a soft voice, hoping to sound comforting. "That's exactly the reason why this unfortunate turn of events for you has occurred… to protect you from yourself."

She stared off into the darkness that surrounded the museum. "No…" she pleaded, trying to make her voice sound at least somewhat even. "There has to be another way… there always is…"

The Curator just looked at her, his deep brown eyes filled with regret. "Sometimes there isn't a choice. Believe me when I say we've done everything we could to try to prevent this… This is a no win scenario. Unfortunately you, nor I, have any control in what needs to happen for the safety of the people and yourself."

"I-" Tera fell silent again, horror and anguish renewed. She couldn't keep on lying. There was no point. Everything made more sense now than it ever had… and even if she hated the thought, she already knew she couldn't go back home. She wasn't meant to be there. She never was. Towns like Propwash were for humans. Not her. She was just a menace in their paradise… the paradise where no one had to do what they were built for, no one had directives eating them from the inside out.. Even the modifications Tony put her through were all _right_. She'd never felt normal like that before.

Continuing to stare into the surrounding darkness, she hadn't realized she was looking at silhouettes. Other planes… maybe even a forklift or two. They didn't seem to be moving, but she felt as if she was being watched regardless. It only made it hurt worse. So many people knew how wrong she was. How stupid she was being.

"I GIVE UP!" she shrieked, her electronic voice echoing through the room - it hardly sounded feminine anymore - quickly breaking into a mess of odd words in her other language.

Smarter than to try to comfort an AI warplane, the Curator simply watched with dull eyes. His job was done.


	16. Chapter 14

It took several minutes before Tera was even somewhat understandable again, only speaking in fragments, her expression blank other than the emotion in her voice. "All this time… everything… no-" she choked on her own words, wincing at the thought. "Why did I ever think I could… all I am is a war machine." She turned away from everything, facing the elevator so she didn't have to look at whatever was in the darkness.

"That's true, it is your function," the Curator agreed, "but it's not your sole function. You have to realize you're not made to _only_ be a weapon. If you were, you wouldn't be struggling with this. You're still a person, just of a different sort."

"I _know_ ," she shot back, her words practically dripping in venom. "But I still _am_ a weapon, and anyone that gets too close to a weapon… that's why They drafted me, wasn't it..."

The Curator nodded numbly, saying no more on the subject and moving towards the elevator. "Well, I suppose you and Icarus better fly back to the base if you're up for it now."

She was quiet for a minute, looking at the Curator with a confused, almost fearful expression… the museum had done its job. She didn't even realize what she said until after she said it… but all of it was true. There was no place for her outside the military. Even if that fact had already been burning in her programming for years. The plane sighed regretfully, her gaze slipping down to her nose. "Y-yeah."

Together the two moved atop the platform and it shot straight up towards the level they'd started on. "You'll do fine. You'll find your niche and be able to function properly for once. You'll find it easier now."

The elevator was still too fast for Tera, and, hating the motion, she resolved to close her eyes until it was over. Part of her felt completely and totally helpless to what she was about to go back to, but the other part knew better. She was a monster. She _wanted_ to injure and kill. The airbase was the only option for something like her. Anything else would only end in disaster. It already had.

Within a few more seconds, they were back on the first floor. Tera already knew she had to face Icarus, even if she didn't want to.

The larger plane's glare, however, was not focused on Tera. It was pinned down venomously on the Curator. "Permission to leave," he requested dryly.

"Granted," the Curator said. He gently nudged Tera off the elevator, giving her a pity filled look after glancing up at Icarus.

"Alright, let's go."

Tera was silent for a few seconds, avoiding eye contact with anything but the floor. "...yessir."


End file.
